THE STORY

OF THE BIBLE
VOLUME ONE
Herbert W. Armstrong led the Worldwide Church of God (formerly The Radio
Church of God until 1968) until his death in 1986. Hundreds of millions heard
his voice and read his literature. God called him in the fall of 1926 and he was
converted in the spring of 1927. Over the course of Mr. Armstrong’s ministry,
God revealed through him a great many true biblical doctrines, which had
been lost to the Church through the centuries. After his death, his successors
ceased to believe and teach these doctrines. Although copyright law prohibits
The Restored Church of God from reproducing and distributing literature pro-
duced while he led the Worldwide Church of God, we are committed to the
preservation and teaching of all of these truths!

THIS BOOK IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE AND IN THE

PUBLIC INTEREST BY THE RESTORED CHURCH OF GOD.
It is made possible by the voluntary, freely given tithes and offerings of the
members of the Church and others who have elected to support the work of the
Church. Contributions are welcomed and gratefully accepted. Those who wish
to voluntarily aid and support this WORK OF GOD around the world are gladly
welcomed as co-workers in this major effort to preach the gospel to all nations.

Copyright © 2008 The Restored Church of God

All Rights Reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE STORY OF THE BIBLE
VOLUME ONE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................4

CHAPTER ONE: FROM THE BEGINNING ....................................................8

CHAPTER TWO: GOD RECREATES THE EARTH .......................................15

CHAPTER THREE: IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN ..........................................21

CHAPTER FOUR: BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER ............................................29

CHAPTER FIVE: FLOOD! ................................................................................37

CHAPTER SIX: THE TOWER OF BABEL ......................................................45

CHAPTER SEVEN: GOD CALLS ABRAM .....................................................52

CHAPTER EIGHT: ABRAM RESCUES LOT ..................................................59

CHAPTER NINE: ABRAM GETS A SON ........................................................66

CHAPTER TEN: THE END OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH .......................71

CHAPTER ELEVEN: ISAAC IS BORN ...........................................................77

CHAPTER TWELVE: ISAAC FINDS A WIFE .................................................81

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: JACOB AND ESAU ...................................................86

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: JACOB AND RACHEL ............................................91

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE DECEIVER IS DECEIVED ..................................96

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: JOURNEY TO CANAAN .............................................99

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: JOSEPH, THE FAVORITE SON ..........................104

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE BROTHERS REUNITE ...................................113

CHAPTER NINETEEN: ISRAEL DWELLS IN EGYPT .................................119

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 INTRODUCTION
by David C. Pack
his is the first volume of a special series. These books truly represent “THE
TS TORY OF THE BIBLE.” Many have attempted to write various kinds of
“Bible Story Books,” but they are usually written only for children, and are pri-
marily designed to entertain instead of educate or inspire. The reader will see
that the wonderful style and artwork of this series capture the spirit of God’s
Word, with its intended lessons and vital meaning.
Most children’s versions of the Bible terribly misrepresent important stories
that it contains—and they are written with wrong emphasis—and wrong mean-
ing! Instead of leading children to the true God, and to the true doctrines of His
Word, children are left with the impression that the Bible only contains a few
stories, and is mostly a book about war, violence, blood, thunder and death.
This is terribly wrong!
In keeping with the modern generation’s obsession with graphic violence,
most efforts to reflect the teachings of the Bible “play” to this interest. Youth
are given what they want to read, not what they need to understand. The many
stories of the Bible are intended to teach VITAL LESSONS to people of all ages.
Modern writers miss the mark when they cater to children, rather than proper-
ly teach them what God intends.
If young people learn the Bible in a wrong way—with emphasis on the
wrong things, while ignoring the enormous number of lessons that the Bible
contains—at least two bad things result.
First, all these wrong concepts and approaches must be unlearned and
replaced by right knowledge and understanding of what the Bible really says.
Unlearning error is a most difficult thing to do, and is actually far harder than
learning the truth correctly the first time, leaving no need to sweep the mind
clean of what has been wrong or misunderstood.
Second, young people will later find the stories of the Bible have been triv-
ialized and made irrelevant, and they may find themselves turned off by its
message rather than being excited and thrilled about what they are learning.
The modern system of education is morally and spiritually bankrupt!
Deluded educators have been biased against God and His Word by the atheis-
tic teaching of evolution poured into them from childhood. They have taught
young people for decades that there are “no absolutes” and that they must fol-

4
low “situation ethics.” They have led the world into a kind of secular human-
ism—where people are driven by how they feel rather than clear definitions of
right and wrong! But there is right and wrong in life—and those who are teach-
ing the children of this world have cut themselves off from this knowledge
(Isaiah 59:1-2). They cannot teach what they were never taught!
Also, this world’s churches keep young people steeped in traditional pagan
philosophies and teachings that have deceived the world for millennia. They
have ignored the great spiritual principle of CAUSE and EFFECT that governs
every aspect of life. They have neglected to teach true spiritual values. They
have defaulted their responsibility in all the critical areas of leadership—and
have utterly failed in their greatest responsibility, which should have been to
instill in young minds the marvelous truths of God’s Word—to teach youth how
to live, not just how to earn a living.
This is a tragic state of affairs!
Many who attempt to study the Bible become confused, frustrated and dis-
illusioned, believing that it is too difficult to understand. As a result, many who
would seek to teach their children true Christian standards and values, either
give up altogether or leave such education to the many theological “experts,”
who offer no end of differing—and conflicting—views.
Such an approach only serves to further confuse young people about the
Bible, thus, in many cases, alienating them from it. But those who truly seek to
understand God’s Word, without adding their own interpretation (II Peter 1:20),
will find that there is simplicity in it (II Corinthians 11:3).
Children need to be taught this simplicity! They need to know who and
what they are—and why they were born—that they are future sons of God in
the making!
You were born for a reason. Your life has a SUPREME PURPOSE! The Bible
reveals how to be in harmony with the true God—and His purpose for life. The
world is ignorant of this. So are most parents. They have no idea how or what
to teach their children. No one is guiding parents, because no one knows how
to guide them. Sadly, though the Bible is a gripping, interesting—even fasci-
nating—book of true stories (all part of one great story), most find it dull, dry
and boring.
This series is written to completely change this misconception in the minds
of people of all ages! It uses language designed to expand your mind through
the use of word pictures. Our goal has been to make the Bible real—to make it
talk directly to parents and children. With only a little explanation, parents will
be able to read these volumes to children as young as age three.
In today’s world, youth are universally misguided, abused, neglected and
ignored and this fuels a variety of rampant, escalating social problems. This is
because society as a whole has rejected the SOURCE of true happiness, success,
peace and fulfillment—GOD’S WORD. As King Solomon admonished, “Train

5
up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
it” (Proverbs 22:6).
How many are even attempting to do this today?
Many true doctrines of God were restored to His Church in the middle of
the 20th century. By the 1990s, they had largely been discarded by its new lead-
ers. Part of our commission is to once again “restore what was restored” and to
continue to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6). The Restored Church of God has com-
pletely restored all God’s doctrines to the Church!
Under the faithful leadership of Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986), vari-
ous Church youth programs were established as part of the fulfillment of this
important responsibility. These included the Y.O.U. program (Youth
Opportunities United—for teens), and the Y.E.S. program (Youth Educational
Services—for young children). There was also a Summer Educational Program
(S.E.P.), providing teenagers with the opportunity to fellowship with other
teens and develop many skills and talents in a camp environment.
There was also much youth-oriented literature, offered to the young people
of God’s Church. These included a Youth magazine for teenagers, Youth Bible
Lessons for children from kindergarten through sixth grade—and The Bible
Story series.
Children are far too precious to ignore or neglect. While parents must uti-
lize the tools that are available to them, they cannot do this if these tools have
not been created.
As the only true extension of Mr. Armstrong’s ministry, The Restored
Church of God is re-creating these same written tools—as well as the maga-
zines, books, booklets, articles and letters that once taught the full truth of God
to millions around the world.
This series is being rewritten—with new volumes to appear on a regular
basis—to once again make the Bible simple, so that the stories in it come to
life! But these volumes are not just for children! It is our hope that parents and
children alike will enjoy and benefit from them. Its forerunner was a six-vol-
ume work, once described as “written for children 5 to 105.” The original series
is no longer available—but this new one is!

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The vast universe is made up of a countless
sea of galaxies, stars, planets, moons, aster-
oids, comets and many other heavenly bodies.
These were all created by God.

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 CHAPTER ONE

FROM THE BEGINNING

H ave you ever looked up into the sky at night and wondered about
the stars? Some are big. Some are small. Some stars are so far
away that it takes many years for their light to reach earth. Some stars
have planets and moons that circle around them, just like the earth and
our moon circle the sun.
Where did they all come from?
For every star that you see in the night, there are countless others
that you cannot see. This is because they are too far away.
But imagine that you could see them. Imagine that you could see
millions and billions of stars—yellow, orange, red, blue and white—
spread across the blackness of space. Together with countless planets,
moons, comets and other heavenly bodies, they make up the Milky
Way Galaxy.
Now imagine a countless sea of galaxies that spread across the
darkness of night. This is the universe.
How did the universe come to be? Where did our earth, moon and
sun come from? And what about the other planets and stars that make
up the universe? Where did they come from?
To find the answers, we must look backward in time. Before you
were born…before your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents
were born…before the first human being walked the earth…before the
earth, moon, sun, stars, galaxies and the entire universe existed…
There was God.

Everything Begins With God

Everything you can see, hear, smell, touch or taste came from materi-
als created by God (Genesis 1:1). He is the Creator. He created every-
thing in the universe—including you!

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 But no one created God. He never had a beginning (John 1:1-2),
and He has always lived (Hebrews 7:3). There was never a time when
He did not live—nor will there ever be one (Revelation 1:8; Isaiah
57:15). This is why He is often called the Eternal or Ever-living One.
This is hard to understand because we are physical. We can only
understand physical things through our five senses—sight, touch, hear-
ing, taste and smell.
But God is Spirit (John 4:24). He is not limited to five senses. And
we cannot know Him or the things He has done unless He tells us.
And He does, through His written Word—the Holy Bible. In it, God
reveals many wonderful things, which we cannot learn on our own
unless we seek and obey Him (Deuteronomy 29:29). The Bible is a
special book that reveals who and what God is, and why He created us.

What Does God Look Like?

Since God is Spirit, we cannot see Him. But do you want to know what
God looks like?
Go look at your face in a mirror. What do you see? Two eyes, a
mouth, a nose, hair and two ears. Guess what? God has two eyes, a
mouth, a nose, hair and ears, too. He also has two arms, legs, hands and
feet, just as you do. This is because God created you in His image and
likeness (Genesis 1:26).
The Bible says that His hair is as white as snow, His eyes like
flames of fire, His feet the color of brass. He has a deep, booming
voice, and a face that shines as bright as the sun (Revelation 1:14-16)!
As you can tell, no one looks exactly like God.

God is a Family

God is not alone. Just as you have a family—a father and mother, and
maybe brothers or sisters—so does God. In fact, God is a Family. His
Family is now made up of two Beings: God the Father and the Word.
They have always lived and always will. The Word, or Spokesman,
later became Jesus Christ, God’s Son (John 1:1-2, 14). They are both
God. And, just like you have a family name (such as Smith or Jones),
which is the same as your parents’ last name, the Father and Christ also
share a family name—God.

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 Just as the father is the head of the family, God the Father is the
Head of the God Family. The Word (Christ) carries out His orders.
Together, God and the Word planned and designed the universe. And
through their awesome power—the Holy Spirit—they created every-
thing in it.
God and the Word always agree with each other. They never fight
or argue. They live together in perfect happiness and harmony. This is
because their Family has government. God the Father leads and makes
the final decisions, while the Word reports to Him and carries out the
Father’s commands. Both God and the Word talk to each other and
plan things out. They use their supreme wisdom to come to the right
decisions. But the Father is the One who has the final say. And the
Word always obeys Him.

God Creates Angels

Before the universe was made, God created hundreds of millions of

angels. Like God, angels are made of spirit and can live forever. But
unlike God, angels did not always exist. And they cannot create life.
Angels (like humans) are free moral agents. This means that God
allows them to decide and choose for themselves whether or not they
will obey Him. God never forces people or angels to obey Him. In His
mercy, He wants everyone to freely choose His way of life.
After creating the angels, God created all the stars, planets, moons
and galaxies that exist—the whole universe! Millions of angels sang
for joy, especially when God created the earth (Job 38:7). They knew
that it would be handed to them as part of a very special assignment.

Great War in Heaven

The Eternal gave a unique mission to one-third of all the angels: They
were assigned to live on the earth and take special care of it. If they
succeeded, they would eventually be given the entire universe to take
care of and rule under God.
At first, the angels were happy about their assignment. They want-
ed to do all that they could to make the earth a beautiful garden para-
dise of peaceful meadows, green forests, sandy beaches and sparkling
oceans.

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 But as time passed (the Bible does not say how long; it may have
taken millions, even billions, of years), something changed.
It all began with Lucifer, who was an archangel. God appointed
him leader over the millions of angels who lived on the earth. Full of
wisdom and beauty, Lucifer was the smartest, most perfect being God
had ever created (Ezekiel 28:11-14). While God ruled the vast uni-
verse from His throne in heaven, Lucifer ruled over the earth from his
throne in the Garden of Eden. He obediently carried out God’s com-
mands.
But one day, Lucifer allowed a wrong thought to enter his mind.
Instead of getting rid of it and replacing it with right thoughts, he
allowed even more wrong thoughts and feelings to guide and control
his mind. He soon became full of pride (verse 15). Instead of being
thankful for the assignment God gave him, Lucifer became bitter and
angry. He wanted more power, more responsibility—and he wanted it
his way, not God’s.
He began to think that he knew better than God, that he was
smarter than Him. Lucifer allowed himself to think that he was greater
than he really was—even greater than his Creator! Eventually, Lucifer
came to believe that he should be God! And he reasoned that the only
way to do so was to take God’s place and remove Him from His heav-
enly throne (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Lucifer’s wrong thoughts and attitudes led him to sin—to break
God’s spiritual laws of love and outgoing concern for others, first
toward God, then toward people (I John 3:4; Romans 7:12-14).
Lucifer the archangel became God’s enemy.
He convinced the other angels around him to believe that his way
was right. Through lies and deceit, Lucifer talked them into believing
that God and His ways were unfair and unjust.
In turn, those angels convinced other angels of the same lies.
Eventually, all the angels who lived on earth—one-third of all the
angels God had created—rebelled against their Creator (Revelation
12:4; Job 4:18). They followed Lucifer into breaking God’s laws, and
refused to obey the Eternal.
Though originally created with super-intelligence, the minds of the
fallen angels became twisted and evil. They decided their way—self-
ishness, greed, cruelty, putting themselves first before others—was
somehow better than God’s Way. They decided that, if God would not

11
do things their way, they would have to remove Him as Supreme
Ruler!
Lucifer and the rebellious angels—now transformed into demons—
foolishly invaded heaven to take over God’s throne. But God—armed
with the limitless power of His Holy Spirit, and backed by twice as
many loyal angels—put down the rebellion. He cast the evil spirits
back to the earth. God then changed Lucifer’s name, which meant
“morning star” or “shining one,” to Satan the devil, which means
“adversary,” “accuser” and “slanderer” (Ezekiel 28:11-19).

Life on Earth Destroyed

Because they had failed to overthrow their Creator, Satan and his
demons were full of hatred and bitterness. Like spoiled children who
could not get their own way, they wrecked the face of the earth.
Earthquakes shattered and trembled across the planet, while volcanoes
burst and overflowed with molten lava. Poisonous gases filled the sky,
choking everything that breathed, and shutting out the sunlight. The
oceans and seas smashed against the land until the whole earth was
covered with water. All physical life (dinosaurs, plants, insects and
other prehistoric life) was destroyed.
Today, the scarred and beaten moons and planets, in decay within
our solar system and throughout the universe, remind us of that great
angelic war.
Satan’s rebellion proved to God that there was only one kind of
being that could be trusted to manage and rule over His creation—
other God-beings!

The Awesome Potential of Man

God is love (I John 4:8). His way of life is based on His spiritual laws
of love and outgoing concern for others. It is the way of giving, assist-
ing, helping, sharing and cooperating with others (Matthew 7:12;
22:37-40). Our Creator is not selfish, cruel, heartless or hateful. He
does not—and cannot—think those ways. He cannot break His spiri-
tual laws of love, which means that everything that He does is for the
benefit of others. This is God’s holy, righteous character.
Godly character is: (1) The ability to know and decide what is right

12
from wrong. (2) To choose the right way over the wrong way. And (3),
despite overwhelming obstacles, to do what is right and reject what is
wrong.
Holy, righteous character is so precious, so special and unique, that
it cannot be created all at once, in an instant. Just as it takes much time,
patience and learning to be able to paint a beautiful masterpiece, godly
character must be developed and grown over a long period. It is impos-
sible for God to instantly create a being (whether angel or human) that
has His character. Instead, it must be developed over a lifetime of
experiences.
And God wants to develop His character in you! God wants you to
become just like Him: Fair, honest, patient, selfless, trustworthy, pure,
innocent, kind, humble, sincere, good, reliable, truthful, respectful,
peaceful—without sin!
Since the fallen angels (now demons) were made of spirit, they can-
not die. They are doomed to live forever in misery as selfish, proud,
greedy, angry, twisted beings. Never again will they experience the joy
of living God’s way of life.
The Eternal understood that only another God-being—one who
thinks and lives like God, and always puts others ahead of himself—
could be trusted to take care of, manage and rule over the universe. So
God decided to reproduce Himself—to expand His Family, just as your
parents decided to expand their family by having you.
He decided to create physical beings—humans—in whom He
could develop His righteous character. With a small portion of His
Spirit working in their minds, they would literally become God’s sons,
yet still be physical. If they practiced seeking and obeying Him
throughout their physical lifetimes, He would change them into spirit
so that they could enter His kingdom. With His holy character fully
developed within them, they would become just like God!
Only then could they be trusted to manage and rule the universe
God’s Way. Beginning with the earth, they would convert, or change,
dead, battle-scarred planets and moons in countless galaxies through-
out creation into garden paradises. They would also help and guide
other humans into developing godly character so that they, too, would
be born into the ever-expanding God Family.
But, if human beings refused to obey their Creator—if they reject-
ed His laws and practiced the way of greed, selfishness and vanity—

13
the way of sin—God would have to reject them. In His mercy, He
would end their physical lives, never allowing them to suffer forever
in misery like the fallen angels.
Therefore, God the Father and the Word, guided by their supreme
wisdom and intelligence, spent many years carefully planning and
preparing for their next creation—MAN!

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 CHAPTER TWO

GOD RECREATES THE EARTH

F or many years (perhaps millions), Satan the devil and his demons
roamed a darkened, lifeless earth, which was covered with water
and poisonous gases (Genesis 1:2). Then one day, after years of care-
ful planning, God decided it was time to recreate the face of the earth.
He knew that the conditions and surroundings had to be just right, so
that it could support physical life.
On the first day, God, using the tremendous power of His Holy
Spirit, cleared away the poisonous smoke, vapors, gases and clouds
that filled the sky. This allowed some sunlight to shine upon earth for
the first time in many years (verses 3-5).
On the second day, God cleared away a layer of water and replaced
it with healthy, fresh air and clean clouds, which swirled in the sky
(verse 8). This is known today as the atmosphere (the Bible refers to it
as the first heaven).
On the third day, the Creator pushed back the waters into sections
of oceans, seas and lakes across the earth. This cleared the way for dry
land to appear and prosper with plant-life. God also formed sections
made up of mountains, hills, plains, valleys, islands and continents
(verses 9-10). Then He created grass, plants, trees and other vegetation
(verses 11-13).
On the fourth day, God swept away the last layer of dust and gases.
This allowed the stars to twinkle and shine down from the blackness
of space into the night sky. God calls this space the second heaven
(verse 14). His throne is in the third heaven (Acts 7:49).
On the fifth day, He created fish, whales and other creatures of the
sea (Genesis 1:20-21). He also created birds to fly through the sky
(verses 21-23).
With the waters and sky populated with life, God was now ready to
create man.

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 God Creates Man From Dust

On the sixth day of the week, God created animals of every kind:
Horses, cows, lions, deer, elephants, reptiles, insects and many more—
anything that walked, crawled or moved about the earth (Genesis 1:24-
25). Each animal was made after its own kind. This is why horses give
birth to baby horses (foals); cows give birth to baby cows (calves);
lions give birth to baby lions (cubs).
Likewise, God created man after His own kind. Like a piece of clay,
man was sculpted into the same image and likeness as his Creator
(verses 26-27). Just as you have hair, eyes, a nose, a mouth, arms and
legs like your parents, God created human beings to look like Him.
However, God is Spirit (John 4:24). Man is flesh and blood, creat-
ed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). God lives forever. He can
never die. But humans are temporary, physical; eventually, all human
beings die.
After God formed and shaped the first man, He breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life. Man then became a soul—a living, breath-
ing being, just like animals.

Animal Brain Versus Human Mind

Human beings and animals have temporary, physical lives. Both must
rely upon food, drink and fresh, clean air in order to survive. But there
are two major differences between humans and animals.
First, humans were made to look like the God kind. Animals were
made to look like the animal kind.
Second, animals live by instinct. Like a computer, God pro-
grammed animals to automatically know how to survive. Through
instinct, a colt automatically knows how to walk almost as soon as it
is born. Through instinct, a calf automatically knows exactly where
and how to get milk—from its mother. Through instinct, birds auto-
matically know how to build nests.
But God did not give humans instinct. Instead, He gives each per-
son a human spirit (Job 32:8). This means that we must learn to walk,
speak, build things, and so forth. We do not automatically know how
to do these things.

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 However, the human spirit empowers the brain to become a mind.
This is why man can build and design towering skyscrapers, produce
beautiful works of art, and create wonderful, awe-inspiring music.
Animals cannot do these things.
Man can produce powerful, super-fast computers of all shapes and
sizes. He can build spacecrafts that can visit other planets—and even
take people to the moon and back. He can create vast libraries of books
that record thousands of years of human history.
Animals can do none of these things. The human mind is greater,
higher and better than the animal brain.
And yet the human mind is far, far lower than God’s mind!

The First Marriage

God named the first man Adam and placed him in the beautiful Garden
of Eden (Genesis 2:8). He then instructed Adam to tend the garden and
keep it lush and green (verse 15). God also brought before the man
every animal that moved on the earth or flew in the sky so that Adam
would name them (verses 19-20).
As the animals came to Adam, he noticed that each kind was male
and female. Seeing this, Adam began to feel lonely. He was the only
human being on the face of the earth.
But the Creator did not intend for Adam to live alone. He said, “It
is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper” (verse
18). God knew that without a helper or companion, Adam was physi-
cally incomplete.
So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He then took one of
his ribs and created a woman from it (Genesis 2:18-22).
Later, Adam called her “Eve,” which means “life,” “living” or “life-
giver,” because she would become the mother of every man, woman
and child who has ever lived (3:20).
Then, God performed the first wedding—Adam and Eve became
husband and wife (Genesis 2:22-24). God intended for married cou-
ples to work together as a team and to walk in complete agreement, the
way God and the Word agree. God made the man to be the head of his
wife and family. And God made the wife to be head of the children and
to manage the household. The Creator intended that the man look to
his wife as a helper and for advice. The woman was made to look to

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her husband for leadership, guidance and authority. Together, as they
produce children and build families, husbands and wives physically
complete each other.

Peace in the Garden of Eden

Adam and Eve did not need to fear the animals that roamed the earth.
Unlike today, animals back then did not eat meat, nor did they attack
and hurt each other. They all lived together in peace. Lions, bears and
other large animals walked freely without attacking others.
One day soon, man and animals will live in peace and harmony
again. This will happen when God sets up His kingdom on the earth.
At that time, all will live according to His ways (Isaiah 11:6-9).
God instructed Adam and Eve to have a family and fill the earth
with children. He also gave them the responsibility of ruling and tak-
ing care of the animals, water creatures, birds and plants (Genesis
1:28-30). Adam’s job was to till the ground and spread the supreme
beauty and lushness of the Garden of Eden around the world until it
filled the whole earth (2:4-6).

God Creates the Sabbath

God recreated the earth, and then created plants, animals and humans,
in six days. On the seventh day, the Creator decided to rest from His
work (Genesis 2:2-3).
God was not tired. The Eternal is always filled with energy (Isaiah
40:28; Psalm 121:4). He rested on the seventh day of the week in order
to set an example for us (Genesis 2:1-3).
God gave the first six days of the week for people to work and cre-
ate things—just as God worked and recreated the earth. But the sev-
enth day is special. It is holy—set apart for a special purpose. God
called that day His Sabbath (Exodus 16:26). It is a day of rest, a holy
time set apart from all work so that people can have more time to seek
and worship God. The first six days of the week belong to man. But
the seventh day—the Sabbath—belongs to God (Exodus 20:8-11).
Once God established the Sabbath day, the Creation Week was fin-
ished.

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 CHAPTER THREE

IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

G od recreated the earth in six days. He then rested from His work
on the seventh day—the Sabbath. Adam and Eve were placed in
the garden paradise of Eden. Their job was to populate the earth and
tend and keep the garden until the entire planet was like Eden.
Meanwhile, as he watched events unfold, Satan the devil schemed
for a way to stop God’s Plan.

Human Spirit Not Enough

Physically, Adam was created perfect. With Eve as his wife, the mar-
ried couple was physically complete.
And yet they were spiritually incomplete. Though God created man
with creative mind-power, Adam still lacked something. His human
spirit was limited to physical knowledge. Adam’s mind could learn
only from his five senses—sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell.
But God is Spirit, and His laws are spiritual. Spirit cannot be seen.
The five senses cannot know or understand spirit or spiritual things. It
would be like trying to describe colors to a person born blind.
To know God and keep His spiritual laws, Adam needed something
extra in his mind: the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Combined with the
creative power of the human spirit, the Holy Spirit would enable Adam
to develop a close, father-son relationship with God. It would also lead
Adam to obey and understand God’s laws, which define right from
wrong, good from evil. When you obey them, good things happen:
blessings, protection, happiness, guidance, answered prayers and
more. But when you break God’s laws, bad things happen: suffering,
pain, misery and even death! God’s spiritual laws define the right way
to live. Based on love and outgoing concern for others, they show you
how to love God and how to love and get along with other people
(Matthew 22:34-40).

21
 Adam could never discover these
spiritual laws on his own. His five senses
could not reveal them. God had to reveal
them. Adam needed the power of God’s Spirit in
his mind to lead his thoughts and desires, and to
help him learn how to live.

The Two Trees

In the Garden of Eden, there were

two very important trees:
the Tree of Life and the
tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Each tree
represented an opposite
way of life.
The Tree of Life represented
God’s way of love and outgoing con-
cern for others. If Adam had eaten fruit from
that tree, he would have received God’s Holy Spirit. And, if he used it
to build godly character, God would some day change Adam from a

22
physical human being to a spirit being.
Then Adam would live forever in the God
Family.
But there was a second tree—the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. It represented Satan’s
way of life—the way of selfishness, greed and hate.
Eating its fruit would lead to vast suffering and pain,
and eventually death!

The Big Lie

After creating Adam, God

warned him, “You may eat of
every tree in the garden. But
do not eat of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
For in the day that you eat its fruit,
you will surely die!” (Genesis 2:16-
17).
The devil saw this as his chance to do evil.
Disguising himself as a serpent, he approached Eve and said, “Has
God really said that you can’t eat of every tree in the garden?” Satan

23
wanted Eve to doubt
God’s warning. He tried to
get her to focus on the one tree
she was forbidden to eat of,
instead of appreciating all the
other trees that were freely avail-
able to her (Genesis 3:1).
Eve replied, “We are allowed
to eat fruit of any tree in the Garden. But we are not allowed to eat fruit
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or even touch it. If we
do, we will die” (verses 2-3).
In a calm, soothing voice, the devil said, “You will not die. You
have an immortal soul. You can never die!” (verse 4).
This was one of the biggest lies ever told—that people have immor-
tal souls and cannot die. Even today, millions of people believe this lie.
Yet the Bible teaches that God created people to have temporary, phys-
ical lives. As with animals, all people eventually die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20;
Romans 6:23).
The devil continued to spread more of his lies. Satan said, “Besides,
God knows that if you eat that tree’s fruit, your eyes will be opened.
You’ll get special understanding. You will become so wise that you
will be just like God. Then you won’t need Him to tell you right from
wrong, or good from bad, anymore. You will know everything you
need to know to make your own decisions!” (Genesis 3:5).
As Eve listened to Satan’s cunning string of lies, Adam stood silent.
As her husband and leader, he should have led her away from the ser-

24
pent and his deceit—away from anything contrary to God’s com-
mands. But instead of leading Eve away from trouble, Adam followed
his wife into the path of evil.
Eve thought about what the serpent had said. She allowed her mind
to be filled with wrong thoughts. She looked at the tree of the knowl-
edge of good and evil and focused her mind on what she was not
allowed to have.
She thought, “This fruit looks harmless to me. It even looks tasty. I
bet it tastes sweet.”
So she stepped closer to the tree.
“What if the serpent is right?” she wondered. “Perhaps I can get
special knowledge if I eat this fruit. Why, I would become just like
God! Maybe that’s why God is trying to keep it away from me.”
With her mind filled with doubt and clouded by vanity, Eve reached
for the nearest, juiciest-looking fruit and took a bite (verse 6). Then she
gave a piece of it to her husband. Adam followed her lead and ate.

Cause and Effect

God saw what was happening. He had the power to stop it, but did not.
He allowed Satan to tempt and deceive the woman. And though He had
commanded them not to, God allowed Adam and Eve to eat the for-
bidden fruit.
This was a test of their character. God wanted to know whether or
not they would obey Him or rely upon themselves.
Remember, God cannot instantly create His holy, righteous charac-
ter in people. Godly character is so precious and special, it takes much
time, patience and learning to develop. It does not happen overnight.
Also, God does not force His ways on people. He does want every-
one to be happy and live forever, just as He does. But as with the
angels, God gave Adam and Eve free choice—the chance to choose for
themselves whether they would obey or disobey Him. God wanted
them to choose to obey Him, to want to follow His lead. The Creator
knew that if they did, they would live happy, healthy lives.
But when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, something strange happened. Up until this time, they were
naked. Since there were no other people around and the weather was
perfect and sunny, they felt no need to wear clothes. But upon eating

25
the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve looked at their naked bodies and felt
ashamed. They decided for themselves that it was wrong for them to
be naked. They did not rely on God to teach them.
So they rushed to sew together clothing made from fig tree leaves
(verse 7).

Shut Out of Paradise

When they heard God drawing near as He walked through the garden,
Adam and Eve tried to hide.
God called out, saying, “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). He
already knew where Adam and Eve were hiding—God knows every-
thing (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Nothing can be kept from His knowledge.
Rather than approaching the man about the sins he had just com-
mitted, God gave Adam a chance to show some character and admit his
mistakes.
Reluctantly, Adam came out from behind the trees. Trembling with
fear, he looked down to the ground and said, “I’m here. When I heard
your voice, I was afraid and ran to hide myself.”
“Why were you afraid?” God asked.
In a small voice, Adam said, “Because I was naked.”
“And who told you that you were naked?” God said. “Have you
eaten fruit of the tree I expressly told you not to eat?”
Adam pointed to Eve and said, “The woman You made for me—she
ate the forbidden fruit, and then I ate.” In saying this, Adam blamed
God and his wife for his own wrongs.
God turned to the woman. “Eve, what is this that you have done?”
Eve followed Adam’s example and shifted the blame to someone
else: “The serpent deceived me! He made me eat it!”
God was very disappointed with Adam and Eve. They had dis-
obeyed Him—sinned. Instead of relying on their Creator to reveal His
spiritual laws and the right way to live, Adam and Eve ate of the tree
of self-knowledge. They decided for themselves what was good and
evil.
Since they had rejected their Creator, God had no choice but to
reject them.
From animal skins, He made clothing for the man and woman to
wear. Then He drove Adam and Eve out of Eden. To make sure that

26
neither they nor their children got back in, God set up two angels—
cherubim—to guard the entrance. He also placed a flaming sword that
blocked the path of anyone who dared to enter the garden. Adam and
Eve were no longer allowed to live in the garden paradise. Nor were
the generations of their future children.
God was not being cruel. He knew that man, after eating the for-
bidden fruit, could not be allowed to enter the Garden of Eden and eat
of the Tree of Life. Otherwise, man would have been doomed to live
forever in misery, suffering and unhappiness, just like the fallen
angels. Although He sent him out of Eden at that time, God would give
man an opportunity to eat of the Tree of Life much later.
But first, people must learn the hard way that they cannot decide for
themselves right from wrong. God gave mankind 6,000 years to live as
it chooses. That is why there has been so much war, violence, hatred,
death, pain and sadness.
When the 6,000 years are over (which will be very soon), God will
offer everyone His Holy Spirit and teach them His ways. If they obey
Him and build His righteous character, God will then offer them eter-
nal life—the chance to live forever in happiness and peace as members
of His Family.

What If…?

What if Adam and Eve had rejected Satan? What if they had not eaten
the forbidden fruit, but instead had eaten from the Tree of Life?
Our world would be far different from what it is today. There would
be no crowded cities filled with crime, violence and disease. Humans
would never wage war. No one would ever take another person’s life.
People would not steal, taking what did not belong to them. Everyone
would respect their parents and elders. Children would always be safe.
All families would have their own land to develop and live on. All
foods would be healthy. No one would ever get sick or catch a disease.
People would always tell the truth. All marriages and families would
be happy. Everyone would keep God’s Sabbath, resting on the seventh
day of the week. No one would misuse God’s many names. No one
would desire things that they cannot possess. And there would only be
one religion, because everyone would know and obey the one true
God.

27
 Mankind would have developed God’s holy, righteous character. In
turn, God would have offered people membership in His Family, and
they would be changed into spirit, as God-beings.
This is what God had wanted for us. Although Adam and Eve chose
to eat the wrong fruit, God still plans to help mankind reach the ulti-
mate goal: to be born into His kingdom.

28
 CHAPTER FOUR

BROTHER VERSUS BROTHER

E xpelled from the garden paradise of Eden, Adam and Eve were
forced to fend for themselves. Using tree limbs, leaves and mud,
they built themselves shelter from the weather and wild animals.
Through hard, exhausting work, they tilled and plowed the earth so
that it would yield plenty of healthy vegetables and fruits for their sur-
vival. And they tended flocks of sheep and goats for clothing materi-
als, milk and meat.
Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit of self-
knowledge—of good and evil—they had to protect themselves from
bears, lions and other wild animals. The nature of all animals changed
from being peaceful to violent and savage. Many became meat-
eaters, killing the sick, weak and helpless. Some even desired to eat
people!

Adam and Eve Have Children

As time passed, the man and wife gave birth to a son. His name was
Cain. Soon after, they had another son, named Abel (Genesis 4:1-2).
Because Adam and Eve had decided to choose for themselves right
from wrong and not trust God, they did not know how to properly
teach and rear their children. Without God’s guidance, they made
many mistakes.
Whenever Cain wanted his way, he would scream, shout and fight
until his parents gave in—which was most of the time. Since they did
not give him rules, correct him or teach him God’s Way, Cain became
a spoiled bully. Eventually, he grew up to be a spoiled, selfish, imma-
ture man.
On the other hand, his younger brother Abel was respectful and
selfless. He tried to please his parents and get along with his big broth-

29
er. Though Abel was not perfect and sometimes broke God’s laws, he
continually sought to obey God.
As they grew into adulthood, Cain became a farmer, while Abel
became a shepherd. Both professions were honorable in God’s sight
(verse 2).
As a farmer, Cain plowed the soil, and planted and watered seeds.
This was hard, sweaty, back-aching work. But it produced tall rows of
sweet corn, green leafy lettuce and other fruits and vegetables. Cain
took great pride in what his hard work produced.
As a shepherd, Abel tended flocks of sheep. He led them out to
choice green pastures of grass to eat from. Abel protected them from
wolves, lions and other wild animals. He guided their every step, away
from potential danger, into safety and shelter. Abel used the wool of his
sheep to make clothing and other materials. And sometimes he used
lamb (baby sheep) for meat.

The Purpose of Offerings and Sacrifices

Both brothers had been taught by their parents to

make offerings to God. By choosing the health-
iest, most valuable lamb, goat or grains, and
then burning them on a special altar,
these offerings were to
show their Creator
that Cain and Abel
appreciated the
many blessings
He gave them.
Offerings were
also to be used to
ask God for for-
giveness whenev-
er His spiritual
laws were broken.
These burnt
offerings, or sacrifices, were
only temporary reminders. They
were to remind people that the Word

30
(the second member of the God Family) would some day be born as
a human being. His name would be Jesus Christ. Since He would live
a perfect life, never breaking God’s Law, His death would become the
perfect sacrifice, or offering. It would wipe away the death penalty,
which all people earn through sin—breaking God’s laws (I John 3:4;
Romans 3:23; 6:23). Then Christ would be changed from a flesh-and-
blood man back into a Spirit Being and a member of the God Family.
His perfect sacrifice would provide all people the same opportunity.
Today, we don’t need to make burnt offerings. Upon repentance—
changing our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions so that we can
copy God’s ways—we can rely on Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to take away
the death penalty.

Offerings and Attitudes

When it came to giving offerings, Cain carelessly chose some of his

crops and burned them on a stone
altar. He did not appreciate the many
blessings God had given him—life,
air to breathe, rain, sunshine and rich
soil to grow healthy crops, food, shel-
ter, safety from wild animals, and
much more.
Without considering
what God had done for
him, Cain carelessly
grabbed some vegeta-
bles and grains and
presented his offer-
ing to God on a
stone altar.
God was not
impressed. He saw that
Cain had given his offering
with the wrong attitude.
On the other hand, Abel considered all
the blessings His Creator had given him.
He thought about the times he made mis-

31
takes and broke God’s spiritual laws—yet God was patient and merci-
ful toward him. He gave Abel the chance to change his mind and
actions.
Abel examined his flock and looked for the perfect lamb.
“Not this one,” he said to himself. “It has a birthmark. And this one
next to it is too old.”
Finally, he came to the right one. It did not have a spot or blemish,
and it was only a year old—not too young or too old. This was the best
lamb of the flock.
Abel gently took the lamb, carried it to a stone altar and killed it.
God saw that Abel took the best of what he owned, the little lamb, and
gave it—sacrificed it. God was well pleased, because Abel had given
his offering with the right attitude (Genesis 4:3-5).

Wrong Attitudes Lead to Sin

Cain had the wrong attitude. Instead of repenting—changing his mind

in order to live God’s Way—he became angry, bitter and filled with
hate. Inspired by the rebellious Satan the devil, Cain was upset that
God rejected his offering, but accepted Abel’s.
“Who does God think He is?” he thought to himself. “Doesn’t He
realize that I’m the firstborn? Why does God favor Abel over me?
What’s so special about my little brother? I’m bigger and stronger than
than he is! Doesn’t God realize that I’m better than Abel?”
Aware of Cain’s bad attitude, God asked, “Cain, why are you so
angry? All you have to do is follow Me and stop being selfish, then I
will accept you. But if you do not follow Me, and continue in your self-
ish ways, your wrong thoughts and attitudes will grow and cause you
to do evil. If you continue in your selfish ways, sin will rule over you,
when you should rule over it!” (Genesis 4:6-7).
God’s words gave wise instruction, but Cain refused to listen. He
allowed bitterness and anger to grow in his mind.
Every time he saw Abel, Cain thought, “He thinks he’s better than
me. I’ll show him.”
He allowed his evil thoughts of anger to grow into hatred toward
God and Abel. Cain wanted to get rid of them. He knew that he could
not harm God, but Abel was a different matter…

32
 Brother Kills Brother

One day, while talking with Abel in a field, Cain’s uncontrollable

anger got the best of him. When Abel turned his back, Cain grabbed a
large stick, raised it above his head and struck his brother from behind.
Shocked, Abel crumpled down to his knees in great pain. Blood
gushed from the back of his head. Filled with rage, Cain struck Abel
again. And again. And again.
Abel was dead. Cain had become the world’s first murderer
(Genesis 4:8).
For the last 6,000 years, the world has been filled with war, killing
and death. All because Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of self-
knowledge.

Cain Refuses to Take Blame

Again, God saw what had happened. Nothing can take place without
Him knowing about it. God had the power to stop Cain from killing
Abel, but He did not. The Eternal has given people 6,000 years to learn
that their ways do not work; they only lead to unhappiness, trouble and
death.
Cain tried to hide Abel’s body, but God was not fooled.
God said, “Cain, where is your brother?” He was giving Cain a
chance to admit to the evil he had just done.
But Cain lied instead. “I don’t know where Abel is. Am I my broth-
er’s keeper—am I responsible for his well-being?” (Genesis 4:9).
What Cain (and most people today) did not realize is that, yes, we
are all our “brother’s keeper.” We should all be concerned with the
happiness and well-being of others. God’s great spiritual laws are
based on love and selfless concern for others—first toward God, then
toward other people.
But Cain was selfish. He did not put God first, nor did he love oth-
ers as much as he loved himself. If he had, Cain would not have mur-
dered his brother Abel.
Since Cain would not admit his sins, God said, “What have you
done? You have murdered your brother, your own flesh and blood! You
stole his life from him—and it was not yours to take. I am the one who

33
gives life—and only I have the authority to take it away. Because of
you, Abel’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!” (verses 10-11).
Cain said nothing. He refused to take responsibility for his wrong
actions.
“You are under a curse!” God said. “Whenever you till the soil and
try to grow food, no crops will come up for you. You will never be a
farmer again! For now on, you will be a fugitive and a vagabond—you
will leave your family and wander the earth for the rest of your life”
(verse 12).
Cain could hardly believe his ears. “That’s not fair!” he screamed.
“My punishment is greater than I can bear!”
Again, Cain only thought about himself. He did not feel sorry for
killing his brother or taking a son away from his parents, or for break-
ing God’s laws. With sin ruling his mind, Cain always put himself first.
“You’ve taken away my profession, my only means to make food
for myself,” he complained. “How am I supposed to survive? And if I
go, I will no longer be with my family. I’ll be completely alone and
helpless. Anyone who finds me will be able to kill me” (verses 13-14).
Since Adam and Eve would have many more children, Cain was
afraid that some of them might grow up and try to kill him for killing
Abel.
God reassured Cain. “Whoever kills you, vengeance shall fall on
him seven times.”
Then God put a mark on Cain, identifying who he was. “This mark
will serve as a warning to any who seek revenge and desire to take
your life,” God said (verse 15).
God was extremely merciful, though Cain did not deserve it.

Cain Wanders the Earth

Cain left his family and wandered the earth. Eventually, he came to
live in the land of Nod, which was east of Eden (Genesis 4:16).
By then, Cain had a wife (verse 17). Many today wonder where she
came from. They fail to understand that Cain married one of his many
sisters (Genesis 5:1-4).
Remember, God created the first man to be physically perfect. Our
Creator did not intend that people get sick or carry diseases, like so
many do today. He planned for Adam and Eve’s many sons and daugh-

34
ters to marry each other and have children. And then their sons and
daughters would marry each other have more children. God planned to
continue this for several generations. Thousands of years later, He
would forbid brothers and sisters and other close relatives from mar-
rying each other (Leviticus 18). By that time, men would have broken
so many physical laws of health, their bodies would be imperfect, and
sickness and disease would be widespread. If God continued to allow
brothers and sisters to marry, they would produce physically damaged
children.
God, in His mercy, always knows what is best for us.

Wickedness Spreads

Tired of wandering, Cain and a group of followers decided to build a

city. This was against God’s will. He wanted people to spread out
across the earth, not clump together in towns and cities. God knew that
without His Holy Spirit guiding them, people would naturally break
His laws. And by living close together, they would have more oppor-
tunity to steal, lie and hurt each other.
Cain named the world’s first city after his firstborn son, Enoch
(Genesis 4:17).
With people ready to follow his law-breaking ways, Cain ruled the
city of Enoch with cruelty. Generation upon generation was born and
grew into adulthood. Over time, perhaps millions of people grew to
live on the earth. Though not as physically perfect as Adam and Eve,
they lived long lives spanning hundreds of years!

Origins of Our World

Inspired by Satan the devil and his demons, Cain’s evil ways soon
spread throughout generations of children.
Cain’s great-great-great-great-great-grandson Lamech married not
one, but two women! Yet God had intended that each husband be mar-
ried to only one wife.
Lamech’s wife Adah gave birth to Jabal. He is the father of nomads,
people who live in tents, herd cattle and wander from place to place.
Nomads still exist today.
Jabal’s brother Jubal invented stringed and wooden musical instru-

35
ments, like the harp and flute. He is the father of music influenced by
the devil.
Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, had a son named Tubal-Cain. He
invented metal work—creating metal tools from bronze, brass, and
other earthly materials. This included making swords and other
weapons of war (Genesis 4:19-22).

Worldwide Evil

After Cain and Abel, the next son Eve had was Seth. Unlike most of
those born after him, Seth worshipped God. He diligently obeyed Him.
Seth taught his son Enosh to do the same (Genesis 4:25-26).
As the earth became filled with violence, war, killing, stealing and
all forms of evil, a few of Seth’s descendants worshipped God and fol-
lowed His ways, for the most part.
After living 930 years, Adam died (Genesis 5:1-5). During his life-
time, he saw children and their descendants cause all kinds of trouble
and harm.
With his last breath, Adam must have thought about the terrible
choice he made back in the Garden of Eden and how it produced an
evil world filled with violence and hate.
Just like our world is today.
But God will not allow it to stay this way. He has a Master Plan.

36
 CHAPTER FIVE

FLOOD!

F ighting, killing and war were

everywhere. Each generation
became more selfish and greedy
than the one before it. Towns
and small cities sprang up
across the land. Instead of
seeking God for protection,
people looked to strongmen
and mighty warriors. These
rulers of cities waged bloody bat-
tles with other cities. Each ruler
wanted to get more people, land,
goods and possessions for himself.
The earth was quickly becoming a
giant battlefield.
This was because Satan the devil
inspired mankind to
commit horrible acts
of evil and cruelty, by
constantly sending
wrong thoughts and
bad attitudes into their
minds. People followed
their carnal nature
(Ephesians 2:2).
Carnal nature is the opposite of God’s holy, righteous character.
Godly character is the way of love—putting God first and treating
other people the way you would like them to treat you (Galatians 5:22-
23). Carnal nature is the way of putting self first before others (verses

37
19-21). Carnal nature always harms others and leads to heartache and
misery.
Turning their backs on God, people worshipped false “gods.” They
bowed down to idols—handmade statues and carved images, which
were usually shaped to look like snakes, calves, birds and other ani-
mals—and forced others to worship them, too. This led to even more
wars and bloodshed.
Witnessing generation after generation of people breaking His
laws, God decided that He had had enough.
Out of all the millions and (possibly) billions of people on earth,
God found that only one man faithfully obeyed Him. His name was
Noah (Genesis 6:9).

God Speaks to Noah

When Noah was about 480 years old, God spoke to him: “Every
thought and desire of man is continually evil. I am sorry I ever creat-
ed him. He has rejected all of My laws, which would have given him
happiness and peace. The lives of people are so horrible and unhappy,
I am going to take their lives away. I will give them back much later.
But for now, I cannot allow them to continue in their evil ways.”
Noah was speechless. But he knew that God was right.
“As for you, Noah,” God continued, “You have obeyed Me. You
have practiced keeping My laws and have trusted Me to show you
right from wrong, good from evil. I will spare you and your family. But
as for the rest of mankind, I will destroy everything on the face of the
earth: people, animals and the birds of the air.”
Noah felt grateful and very relieved. But he knew that God had
more to say.
“Before I act, I will give mankind 120 years. During that time, I
will use you to warn the people. Tell them that because of their evil
ways, I will fill the earth with a great flood—so great that even the
highest mountains will be underwater. Noah, you have 120 years to
warn mankind of the great punishment I will unleash upon the earth”
(Genesis 6:3, 5-8).
Then God commanded Noah to build a huge ship, called an ark. It
was to be made of gopherwood and sealed watertight with pitch. About
450 feet long and three stories tall, God wanted the ark to be shaped

38
like a giant, hollow chest so that it would not tip over during the rough
flood storms (verses 14-21).
Also, God wanted the ark to be large for another reason. He told
Noah, “Take seven pairs (male and female) of every clean animal. One
pair (male and female) of each unclean animal. Also take seven pairs
(male and female) each of birds of the air. This will keep all those ani-
mals alive during the Flood” (Genesis 7:2-3; New King James
Version).

Building the Ark

Noah began the huge task of building the ark. He hired a team of men
to go to the forest and find the right kind of trees to use for wood. After
chopping some down, they used oxen and carts to pull the trees to the
ark’s building site. Some years later, Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham
and Japheth (Genesis 5:32). They grew up to help their father build the
great ship. Many years passed as they gathered enough of the wood,
pitch and other materials they needed.
As the frame of the ark slowly began to take shape, Noah’s friends
and neighbors began to take notice. So they began to wonder among
themselves.
One man said, “What is Noah doing?”
“Looks like he’s building some kind of big boat,” said another.
“A boat? But there’s no water around here for miles. Where’s he
going to sail it? How will he get it there?”
More and more people watched with growing interest as Noah and
his sons continued to build.
Whenever and wherever he could, Noah preached to anyone who
would listen. Year after year, he warned them about the great flood that
God said would soon come. Noah told the people that God was going
to send the flood because their way of life was wrong. Their thoughts
and actions were contrary to—opposite—what God had intended.
“It’s too late for this world,” he preached. “But it’s not too late for
you. You have a way of escape.”
But they would not believe Noah. They thought that their world
would continue.
Some shouted, “You’re crazy! Only a madman would build an ark
in the middle of land!”

39
 God caused animals to line up
and go aboard the great ark.

Many teased and insulted Noah as he and his sons worked diligent-
ly on their massive project.

Wild Animals Line Up

Before the 120 years of warning had ended, the ark was finished. After
it was filled with one year’s worth of food for eight people and thou-
sands of animals, God said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and your
family. The rest of mankind will perish in the flood” (Genesis 7:1, 4).
Noah thought about all the people who had heard his warnings but
would not change their lives. He began to feel sorry for them as he and
his family entered the ark (verse 13).
A crowd gathered around the ark as Noah, his wife, his sons and
their wives entered it. Many laughed and shouted insults at them.
An old man said, “Where is this flood you’ve been preaching about,
Noah?”

40
 “Yeah! When is your God going to give us some rain? My throat is
dry!”
Everyone laughed and chuckled—but soon their laughter turned
into silence. Every man, woman and child in the crowd was shocked
to see an incredible sight: a long, seemingly endless line of animals
marched up to the ark, two-by-two. Quietly, they went up the long
ramp and through the giant entrance on the side of the ship. Horses,
elephants, sheep, lions, birds, bears, and more—every kind of animal
on earth peacefully entered the ark, just as God had said. This was a
great miracle—an act that could only be done by God.
Some people in the crowd began to have second thoughts.
“Say, maybe Noah knows something we don’t,” some said.
Others wondered, “What if he was right all along?”
However, their doubts did not last for very long. Even after wit-
nessing such a great miracle, the people would not reject their carnal
nature and change. They were too stubborn and set in their ungodly
ways.
God understood this. That is why He chose to take their physical
lives then. He will bring everyone back to life in the future, when the
kingdom of God will rule on the earth. At that time, they will be
offered God’s Holy Spirit, which will help them to reject their carnal
nature and live happy, healthy lives.

The Flood Begins

After Noah, his family, and all of the animals were secure aboard the
ark, God closed the giant door and sealed it shut. No one could get in,
and no one could get out (Genesis 7:15-16).
A day passed—no rain. Another day passed. Still nothing, not even
a raindrop. A third day passed. And then another. Six days came and
went, and still there was no flood.
By the seventh day, a growing crowd of hundreds and thousands of
people surrounded the ark. As they did before, they cried out to Noah,
laughing and shouting insults at him and his family.
“Noah, Noah! Help me! Help me! I’m drowning!” they teased.
They were all so sure that Noah’s warnings about the great Flood
were false. They did not realize how merciful their Creator really was.
Not only had He given them 120 years to change their rotten ways,

41
42
God had also given them seven extra days to repent.
But the people would not change their lives.
When the seventh day ended, storm clouds began to form. The air
grew from a soft breeze into harsh winds that were so powerful, peo-
ple could barely make it back to their homes.
Suddenly, everyone knew that a big storm was coming.
And then a drop of rain fell. Then a few more. Soon, what began as
a light drizzle became a mighty shower of rain.
Those who had teased and laughed at Noah were no longer laugh-
ing. They now knew that his warnings were coming true—and that
their end was near.
The earth trembled and shook as pockets of underwater springs
exploded from the ground, shooting out rivers of water like a fire hose.
People shouted and screamed as they ran for cover. The rain from
above and the waters from beneath rushed upon the earth. Across
fields, towns and cities, the waters rose higher and higher until almost
no one in them was left alive.
Those left headed for the highest mountains in hopes of out-running
the ever-rising floodwaters. Fights broke out as people scrambled for
higher ground. Some even had to fight off wild animals who were also
fleeing to escape.
But in the end, all of the fighting was in vain. Even at the very top
of the highest mountains, the dark, swirling floodwaters soon rose to
cover them. The few people and animals left alive squirmed and twist-
ed in the cold water, fighting to stay alive. But the flood currents were
too strong (verses 10-23).
Except for those in the ark and the fish in the seas, the life of every
man, animal and bird was taken in the great flood.

Too Late!

Aboard the ark, Noah listened to the screams of those he had warned.
He heard the people beat and pound against the sides of the great ship.
“Noah! Noah! Save us!” they screamed. “Open the door and let us
in!”
But it was too late for them. God had sealed the giant door shut. No
one could open it.
Noah felt the waters lift the ark from the ground. Soon, the cries

43
and screams of the people outside were silent. At that moment, Noah
realized that he, his wife, his sons and their wives were the last eight
people alive on earth.

44
 CHAPTER SIX

THE TOWER OF BABEL

I t rained nonstop for 40 days and nights. Noah and his family had
plenty of chores and duties to keep themselves busy. They had to
feed and water all of the animals, as well as keep their stalls clean.
When the rain finally ended, the clouds parted and the sun
appeared. In all directions, Noah could see that water covered the
whole world (Genesis 7:17-18). Altogether, the ark journeyed across
the water-filled earth for 150 days (about five months; verses 23-24).
At the end of the 150 days, God created a wind to pass over the
waters, causing them to dry up (Genesis 8:1-3). As the flood slowly
lowered, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. No longer
would it drift around the earth (verse 4).
But Noah, his household and the animals still had to stay aboard the
great ship. There was not yet enough land and vegetation to live on
(verse 5).

Noah Leaves the Ark

A few months passed before Noah could see the tops of the mountains.
He sent out some birds to see if they could find dry land and fresh veg-
etation. Finally, a dove came back with a freshly plucked olive leaf in
her mouth. Since olive plants grow at lower land levels, Noah knew
that the waters had lowered enough so that people and animals could
again survive on the earth.
But Noah wanted to be sure. He waited seven days and sent out the
dove again. This time it did not return. Noah then knew that life could
survive on its own in the wilderness (Genesis 8:6-12).
Noah and his family had been in the ark for about one year before
God dried up the flood and renewed the earth.
One day, God gave Noah some good news: “It is time for you and

45
your family to leave the ark. Bring out the animals that are with you
and let them go. I want them to spread across the earth and have chil-
dren and grow in number” (verses 16-19).
Noah obeyed God and set the animals free. Then he and his family
set off into the fresh, green new world.
One of the first things Noah did was build an altar of worship and
offer a burnt sacrifice to God. Noah wanted to show God that he was
thankful for all that He had done for him and his family (verse 20).
God promised to never again punish the world with a great flood.
Then God said that every time people saw a rainbow, it would be a sign
that He would keep His promise (Genesis 9:8-17). And God never lies
(Hebrews 6:18).

46
 Civilization Begins

Noah’s three sons (Shem, Ham and Japheth) and their wives had many
children. Before long, several generations were born (Genesis 9:18-
19). Today, often four generations live at the same time: children, par-
ents, grandparents and great-grandparents. But back in Noah’s time,
because people lived hundreds of years and had many children, as
many as ten generations lived at the same time.
Some families settled in the lower plains areas where there was
plenty of rich soil to make farmlands. Others moved to the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers region, in what became the land of Shinar.
Like those before the Flood, people tended to crowd together
instead of spreading out the way God had intended.
In Shinar, there were few rocks or trees to use for making buildings.
So the people made bricks from the soil and used them to make homes,
barns, storehouses and other buildings (Genesis 11:2-3). They built
them so close together that villages and small towns formed.
Eventually, these grew into cities. Just as today, many people preferred
to live in close, cramped cities.

Noah Preaches About the Son of God

Meanwhile, Noah preached about God’s Way to all who would listen.
He reminded people about what sin is—the breaking of God’s spiritu-
al laws, and putting self before God and other people (I John 3:4).
Noah also taught about a member of the God Family who would
someday be born as a human being (John 1:1, 14). As the Son of God,
He would be both man and God. Thousands of years in the future, this
special servant—Jesus Christ—would free everyone from the way of
sin. Because He would reject carnal nature and never break God’s
laws, Christ’s death would become the perfect sacrifice, or offering. It
would pay the penalty of sin—death—for all people, past, present and
future (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Three days after His death, God the Father
would raise His son Jesus back to life. But instead of being a physical
man, Jesus would be changed back into spirit as a God-being
(Revelation 1:12-18). This would provide all people the chance to be
born into the God Family (I Corinthians 15:47-49).

47
 But until that time, burnt offerings would remind the people that
they needed Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

Satan Uses Nimrod to Deceive

Most did not care for Noah’s messages. They did not want to trust God
to guide their lives. Following their carnal nature, most people contin-
ued to decide for themselves right from wrong.
Satan and his demons also hated Noah’s preaching. The devil want-
ed people to worship him, not God. So he devised a lie to mislead peo-
ple into believing that the Son of God was born right after the Flood!
To do this, Satan used a man named Nimrod. He
was the grandson of Ham and the great-grandson
of Noah. Nimrod was a mighty hunter, strong
and fierce. Over the centuries, he has been
known by many names among various
ancient cultures. Nimrod was popular with
the people because he protected them from
wild animals (Genesis 10:1, 6, 8-9).
Like Satan, Nimrod hated God’s laws.
He foolishly thought that he could create
his own happiness without them.
He led the people who crowded
together to build walls around their
towns. At first, this protected them from
wild animals getting inside. But eventual- Nimrod
ly, the walls came to protect people from deceived
many into
war. Just as before the Flood, man slid back worshipping
into his evil, wicked ways. Armies of cities idols (carved
images of
fought against each other to take what others men, animals,
possessed. and so forth).

God was not pleased.

He witnessed Nimrod lead others to build
Babel, the first large city built after the
flood. With other cities under his rule,
Nimrod became an evil dictator, or ruler,
over the kingdom of Babylonia. As his
power and riches grew, he came to be

48
feared by all under his reign—and by many others who were not.
He forced his subjects to reject the one true God and worship false
gods and their images—idols. Nimrod deceived and misled people into
worshipping the devil, whom he called “Merodach,” which means lord
or master. Another name of the devil was Baal. Among many pagan
worshippers, Baal was considered the chief of all the so-called “gods”
and their idols.
Nimrod claimed to be Baal’s high priest. He carried out Baal’s
wishes and taught others to do the same. As both an evil ruler and a
religious leader, Nimrod’s power over the people continued to grow.
But he wanted even more power.
So Nimrod devised a plan to keep the minds of the people away
from God. He decided to lead them into a great project to build the
tallest tower in the world! Dedicated to the “sun god,” the tower would
be seen throughout the plains of Shinar. Everyone outside the kingdom
would know about it, causing many to come near. Nimrod would then
lead—even force—them to worship Baal.
If all went according to Nimrod’s plan, Babel would become the
capital of a world-ruling government.
But God had other plans!

Tower of Confusion

Many months passed as the tower slowly took shape and could be seen
across the plains. If the project continued, it would reach up into the
sky.
God knew that He had to stop this. He knew that if they continued,
nothing could keep men from acting out every kind of evil they could
think up.
So God confused their language. Up until then, everyone spoke the
same language (Genesis 11:1). They could easily share ideas and
thoughts. But God confused their speech, causing people to speak in
different languages. They could no longer understand each other. This
led to arguments and fights. Most of the people could no longer live or
work together.
So the tower project ended. People who spoke the same language
banded together and moved to their own region of the earth. Those
who spoke other languages did the same.

49
 Because of this, the tower came to be called “Babel,” which means
“confusion” (verses 2-9).

Where Worldly Holidays Come From

Those who stayed in or near Babylonia grew great in number. Over the
years, Nimrod led them to build other cities in Babylonia, as well as in
Assyria and other lands. These were all devil-worshipping kingdoms
(Genesis 10:10-12).
The many who had left Babel and freed themselves from Nimrod’s
rule continued to worship Satan, but called him by many different
names.
Yet, a very tiny number of people, led by Noah’s son Shem, still
feared and obeyed God. For many years, Shem fought against the
spread of Nimrod’s idol-worshipping mystery religion.
Eventually, Nimrod was killed for his evil ways. His death so
shocked his followers that many drifted away from the mystery reli-
gion.
However, Satan wanted to continue his deception. So he used
Semiramis, Nimrod’s wife, to do this. Long after her husband’s death,
she gave birth to a son, who she claimed was a miracle-child—Nimrod
reborn! She said that the baby had no human father, but rather was the
son of the “sun-god.”
This lie was used to replace the true Son of God, Jesus Christ, in the
minds of the people. Semiramis deceived many into worshipping this
false god.
It is the same today. Millions say that they worship Christ. But they
do not really worship Him, because they do not obey God.
Though Nimrod was just a man, he came to be worshipped as a
“sun god” after his death. Semiramis became known as “the Virgin
Mother,” as well as the “Queen of Heaven.”
With Semiramis ruling over several kingdoms and religious sys-
tems, the Babylonian mystery religion spread far and wide. Over the
centuries, it merged with other pagan religions and traditions of men.
Even today, many millions of people practice the ancient customs
of this false, evil religion: Christmas, Easter, New Year’s and most of
the world’s other holidays. They do not realize that what they practice
came from ancient, idol-worshipping religions. These religions forced

50
people to commit horrible evils, such as sacrificing babies by burning
them in fire!
When people reject God and put their trust in themselves or other
men, trouble always follows.

51
 CHAPTER SEVEN

GOD CALLS ABRAM

M ost of those born after the Great Flood grew up to hate God and
His ways. Few listened to the preaching of Noah and Shem, who
warned them to keep God’s laws.
More than 350 years after the flood, God decided to use a special
servant to fulfill a great commission. His name was Abram. He was a
descendant of Shem (who was still alive and serving God elsewhere).
Abram lived in Ur in the land of Mesopotamia, along with his
father Terah, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and other relatives. Abram
was a kind of prince in a rich family that owned lots of sheep, oxen,
donkeys, camels and many servants. In those days, the father of a
wealthy family ruled over his sons and daughters, and servants and
possessions like a king over a kingdom. The firstborn son was heir to
the family’s wealth; upon the father’s death, the firstborn would
become ruler.
One day, God spoke to Abram. “I want you to leave your home,
your country and your family’s house,” He said. “I will guide you to a
special land, and there I will make you into a great nation. I will bless
you and make your name great. I will bless those who bless you, curse
those who curse you. Through you, every family on the face of the
earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram was stunned. The God of the universe had just offered him
and his descendants the greatest blessings he could ever imagine.
Yet God did not say when He would do this, nor how. Neither did
He tell Abram where this special land was located.
But instead of asking God to explain Himself, Abram decided to do
what most men would not: He obeyed God without question. He trust-
ed God to show him the way.
At 75 years old, Abram packed his belongings and, along with Sarai
and Lot, departed for the Promised Land.

52
 Into the Promised Land

After traveling through the rugged wilderness, Abram and his caravan
of relatives, servants, animals and other belongings arrived in the land
of Canaan. The people who lived there, called Canaanites, descended
from a man called Canaan. He was the son of Ham and the grandson
of Noah.
Sometime after the Great Flood, Canaan had horribly mistreated
Noah. What he had done was so evil that Noah pronounced a curse
upon Canaan and his descendants.
The Canaanites worshipped idols. They were so cruel and violent
that they even sacrificed their children to please their many false gods.
When Abram came to Shechem, a town in the northern part of
Canaan, God appeared to him. He said, “Abram, this is the land I will
give to your descendants.”
Wanting to show he appreciated this great gift, Abram built an altar
to use in worshipping the Eternal. He sacrificed the best of his cattle as
a burnt offering to God.
Then Abram took his caravan southward and made temporary
dwellings east of a town that would later be named Bethel. He then
built another altar. There, he worshipped God and called upon His
name for more guidance.
Afterward, Abram traveled down to the southernmost part of
Canaan.

Journey Into Egypt

Abram soon found himself in a land suffering from severe famine.

Farmlands were dying because few crops would grow. Fresh drinking
water was drying up and becoming scarce.
If the Canaanites had been close to God—if they had feared Him,
carefully followed His laws, and obeyed His will—they would have
trusted in their Creator to feed them. Instead, the Canaanites wor-
shipped demons (who pretended to be like God). Cut off from the
many benefits of living God’s Way, the land and people of Canaan suf-
fered from the famine.
The devil probably tried to tempt Abram to disobey God and head

53
back to Ur. Just as he had done with Eve back in the Garden of Eden,
Satan tried to convince Abram to decide for himself right from wrong,
good from evil.
“God has brought you all these hundreds of miles to dwell in a for-
eign land—and for what?” Satan reasoned. “So that you can die here
in the wilderness? It would be so much easier to go back to your native
land. All of your relatives are there. Why, they are fat with riches, food,
water and cattle!”
But Abram did not give in to temptation. He rejected his carnal
nature and trusted in God. He relied upon his Creator to provide for
him and his group of travelers.
God did not abandon him.
He led Abram to the neighboring land of Egypt, which is in the
northeast corner of what is today called Africa. Egypt was a prosper-
ous kingdom of city-states, which were ruled by kings. The chief king
was called Pharaoh.
In spite of the famine in Canaan, Egypt’s rich soil grew plenty of
vegetables, grains and fruits for all to eat. This was because the Nile,
the longest river in the world, supplied enough fresh water for the
crops.
God wanted Abram and his household to stay in Egypt until the
famine was over.

A Half-truth is Still a Lie

As he was about to enter Egyptian territory, a terrible thought crossed

Abram’s mind: “My wife Sarai is so beautiful and fair-skinned that she
will stand out in the eyes of the Egyptians. Some will ask about her to
see if she is free to marry. When they find out that I am her husband,
they may get so jealous and desire her for a wife that they may seek to
kill me!” (Genesis 12:11-12).
Despite God’s promise to produce a great nation through him,
Abram began to doubt that he would be protected in Egypt. (As you
read THE STORY OF THE BIBLE, you will find that even the most
obedient servants of God sometimes give in to doubt. God understands
this. He knows that it takes many years for people to reject their car-
nal nature and build Holy, righteous character in its place.)
Explaining his doubts to Sarai, Abram said, “Say to whoever asks

54
that you are my sister, but do not mention that you are my wife. This
could mean the difference between my life or death!”(verse 13).
Sarai was Abram’s half-sister; they both had the same father, but
different mothers. However, by not mentioning that Abram was also
her husband, Sarai would not be speaking the full truth. In effect,
Abram was telling Sarai to deceive people—to mislead them from the
truth.
This is not the way of God or His character. It is the way of Satan
and carnal nature. By giving in to his doubts, Abram temporarily trust-
ed in himself to work out his problems, instead of trusting in God.
When he and his caravan came into Egypt, Abram’s fears came to
pass. Sarai’s beauty stood out in the eyes of the people. Egyptian offi-
cials asked about her. They wanted to know if she was free to marry.
Sarai followed Abram’s instruction and told them only part of the truth.
The princes of Egypt reported Sarai’s great beauty to the Pharaoh,
saying that she was free to marry. The Pharaoh kept a harem, a private
collection of many beautiful women. He did not obey God’s will to
have only one wife.
Intending to marry her, Pharaoh ordered his men to take Sarai and
place her in his harem. With wedding plans soon underway, Pharaoh
offered Abram many sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants. In a
better situation, Abram would have been happy with such goods. But
his increased riches meant nothing to him without his wife by his side.
Abram realized that unless some miracle happened, he was about to
lose Sarai forever!

God Steps In

The Pharaoh was quite pleased with himself. He was ruler over pros-
perous, growing city-states. And because of the famine, people from
other lands turned to his kingdom for help. This increased his fame and
might.
“And now I have in my harem one of the most beautiful women I
have ever seen,” he thought. “Soon, she will be one of my many
wives.”
Believing that Abram was only Sarai’s brother and not her husband,
Pharaoh treated Abram with kindness and favor. He gave him many
gifts of cattle, servants and other possessions.

55
 In turn, Abram taught the Egyptian mathematics, astronomy (which
is the study of stars and other heavenly bodies), and other sciences.
This pleased Pharaoh even more. With such great knowledge, his men
would build massive water projects to water their farmlands. Also,
they would build giant structures, such as royal palaces, grand temples
and gigantic pyramids.
“Truly this man Abram is a blessing to me,” Pharaoh said to his
officials.
But what the Egyptian king did not know was that he would soon
regret his words.
Pharaoh may have been pleased, but God was far from happy. He
did not intend for Sarai to be married to anyone but Abram. God
planned to produce vast, powerful nations and peoples through Abram
and Sarai—and that could not happen if Sarai was married to another
man.
So the Eternal decided to step in.
As Pharaoh and his court of princes and rulers celebrated his
upcoming wedding to Sarai, something strange happened. One of
Pharaoh’s servants fell ill. And then another. Soon, the whole palace
was filled with sick and dying people. God had struck them with a
plague!
Backed by the powers of demons, Pharaoh’s physicians tried to use
their black magic and evil chants to get rid of the plague. But the

The Egyptians used Abram’s knowledge of mathematics and other sciences to build giant
structures, such as palaces, temples and pyramids. Many of these buildings still exist
today.

56
 power of God is far stronger than the power of puny men and demons.
The sickness would not go away.
It did not take long for Pharaoh to find out the reason why—and he
was mad!
Before all of the officials and servants that were left alive, Pharaoh
looked down from his throne and pointed his finger at Abram.
“You are the reason why my people suffer from this plague!” he
said.
Abram did not know what to say.
Pharaoh continued. “What is this you have done to me? Why did
you not tell me that Sarai was your wife?”
Again, Abram was silent.
“Sarai said that she was your sister, but neither of you said anything
about being husband and wife. Why? Because of you, I might have
married her, when you knew that it would have been wrong. And now
your God has put a plague on my house!”
Abram looked around him and saw the angry Egyptian faces, and
wondered if the king was about to put him to death.
Then Pharaoh said, “Abram, take your wife and your possessions
and leave Egypt at once!” (Genesis 12:18-19).
Before Abram could say a word, Pharaoh’s men surrounded him.
Then they escorted Abram, Sarai and their caravan out of Egypt.

Pharaoh blames Abram for

the mysterious plague that
has struck his people.

57
 During the journey, Abram had much to think about. He knew that
these events happened because he failed to trust God. He did not rely
on his Creator to work out his problems. Abram had relied on himself.
Relying on yourself and following the desires of carnal nature,
rather than trusting in God, always leads to disaster.

Abram Calls Upon God

Abram was shaken by these events. He knew that he needed to get

close to God. Abram decided to lead his caravan to the altar he had
built between Ai and Bethel. Once there, he offered animal sacri-
fices—the very best of his possessions—and called upon God’s name.
God listened to Abram’s pleas for forgiveness and mercy. The
Eternal understood that it was natural for human beings to give in to
their carnal nature and Satan’s rebellious attitudes (Romans 8:5-8).
When He saw that Abram truly wanted to change and build godly char-
acter, God knew that He could still work through him.
No matter how great a person’s sin, God will always listen to those
who repent—change their wrong thoughts and attitudes—and whole-
heartedly follow His ways.

58
 CHAPTER EIGHT

ABRAM RESCUES LOT

A bram had many servants and cattle, as well as much silver and
gold. And so did his nephew Lot. In fact, their herds grew so large
that they needed great amounts of green pastures and fresh drinking
water. Abram and Lot soon discovered that there was not enough graz-
ing land and water for both of their growing herds (Genesis 13:1-6).
As the situation grew worse, another problem arose. Some of
Abram’s herdsmen and some of Lot’s herdsmen began to compete
against each other for land and water. This led to arguments and strife.
Abram knew that if the problem was not resolved soon, fights would
break out—even resulting in death (verse 7).
So he took his nephew aside and said, “Lot, we have problems
between our herdsmen. They cannot walk together in peace unless we
are all in complete agreement. We cannot afford to let bad feelings and
strife divide us—we are family.”
Lot agreed. He knew that something should be done—but what?
“I think it’s time for your group and my group to separate,” Abram
said. “This will ensure peace between us. Besides, God has promised
me all of Canaan. Pick which section of land you want for your very
own use, and I will take my possessions and go the opposite direction.
I am giving you first choice of the Promised Land” (verses 8-9).
Lot’s eyes grew wide with astonishment. He knew that Abram, as
the head, or Patriarch, of their family, had the right to choose whatev-
er part of the Promised Land he desired. Abram thought more about
maintaining peace than gaining material things.
For years, Abram had treated Lot like a son, partly because Lot’s
father was dead. But also because Abram and Sarai still did not have
children of their own.
Lot looked out into the horizon and saw the lush, fertile valley of
Jordan to the east. There, the land was rich, like Egypt along the Nile

59
 With Abram’s approval, Lot decides to
move to the fertile valley of Jordan.

River. Upon seeing the valley, Lot thought about how his herds and
riches would increase if he went there. He did not consider turning this
opportunity down and letting Abram take the land.
So he told his uncle, “I will take the land to the east.”
Happy that they could part on peaceful terms, Abram watched Lot
and his group head for the valley of Jordan (verses 10-11).
Eventually, Lot settled among the cities of the plain. These cities
and towns were so evil and desperately wicked that, if they did not
change their law-breaking ways, God would be forced to severely cor-
rect them. God knew that He would have to put them out of their mis-
ery, just as He had done with the Great Flood.
By choosing to live among such evil people, Lot was in danger of
becoming like them and suffering God’s wrath (verses 12-13).

God Reaffirms His Promise

With Lot and his herdsmen gone, God spoke to Abram and reaffirmed
His promise to him.
He said, “Abram, look around you. Look to the north, south, east
and west. Everywhere you can see I will give to you and your descen-
dants forever. Also, I will bless you with so many descendants, it will
be like numbering the dust of the earth, if that is possible for men to
do so! Now, arise, and walk throughout the Promised Land, from its
length to its width. It all belongs to you.”

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 Hearing these words, Abram felt closer to his Creator than he ever
had before. He knew that the Eternal would keep His promise. God
does not—and cannot—lie.
Abram did what he was told, and traveled throughout the Promised
Land, inspecting it. Then he came to a town called Hebron and lived
near a grove of trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre became
his ally and friend.
Then Abram built another altar to worship and give burnt offerings
to God (Genesis 13:14-18).

Lot is Captured

One day, while Abram and his men conducted business, a man stum-
bled into their presence. Gasping to catch his breath, the man said that
he had urgent news for Abram.
The man’s clothes were caked with mud and dirt. Through the rips
and holes in his clothing, Abram could see bruises and wounds on the
man’s body. Abram ordered his servants to give the man cool water to
quench his thirst.
With his belly full, the man was ready to tell Abram his story: “The
kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam and the king of nations have attacked!”
(Genesis 14:13).
Abram and his men were well aware of what the man had meant.
The kings of the five cities of the plain—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah,
Zeboiim and Bela—rebelled against the king of Shinar. For 12 years
they had paid tribute to him. Because of Shinar’s military might, these
kings were forced to give Shinar’s king the best of their possessions.
But in the thirteenth year, they decided, “No more! If the king of
Shinar wants our riches, he’ll have to take them from us!”
When he did not receive the yearly tribute from the five cities of the
plain, the king of Shinar was enraged.
“How dare they rebel against me!” he shouted. “I will make them
pay!”
Joined by the troops of the kings of Ellasar, Elam, and the king of
nations, he ordered his men to attack the five cities of the plain.
“And if anyone dares to get in our way, destroy them!” he ordered.
Like a human war machine, the massive army destroyed anyone
who dared to cross their path—even giant warriors such as the

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Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, the Horites and others who towered
over ordinary men. Having easily destroyed these giants, the army of
the four kings from the east came to Kadesh and attacked other cities
and towns.
“The kings of the five cities joined together,” the man said to Abram,
“and met the invaders in the Valley of Siddim. Though there were five
armies against four, the four kings from the east won the battle. Those
soldiers who managed to escape fled to the mountains. With the cities
of the plain unguarded, the four kings invaded Sodom and Gomorrah
and took all of their possessions before leaving” (verses 1-11).
Abram did not like the sound of this report. He knew that his
nephew Lot, against better judgment, lived among the people of
Sodom.
“And what of Lot?” he asked. “Has anything happened to him and
his family?”
The man hesitated, then said, “The four kings from the east took Lot
and his possessions with them!” (verse 12).

Abram Rescues Lot

Abram stood up and shouted to his men, “Get your weapons and pre-
pare your camels! We’re going to rescue Lot!”
Then he and his private group of 318 bodyguards and well-trained
servants mounted their camels and headed for the invading army before
it could escape. Mamre the Amorite and his brothers, Aner and Eshol,
came with Abram (Genesis 14:14-24).
They raced to the northern edge of Canaan until they caught sight of
the enemy’s camp. After waiting for night to fall, Abram divided his
men into groups and surrounded the unsuspecting army.
Meanwhile in the camp, the king of Shinar relaxed in his tent, drink-
ing wine and admiring the silver and gold that he took from Sodom and
Gomorrah. The other three kings sat with him and boasted of their suc-
cess in battle.
“We slew the armies of the Rephaim, the Zuzim and all the other
armies of giants. They were no match for us. Now everyone in Canaan
trembles at the mere mention of our names.”
The king of Elam said, “Yes, and we have taught Sodom and
Gomorrah a lesson they will not soon forget.”

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 All four kings laughed and drank more wine.
“This is only the beginning,” said the king of Shinar. “With our
combined armies, we can take over all the land we desire. We can rule
everything. No one can stop us!”
And as the four kings laughed and boasted some more, Abram gave
the command: “Attack!”
In the camp, the weary soldiers from the east were caught by sur-
prise. After winning so many battles, they never expected that any
group so small would dare attack them. Tired from constant battle and
long traveling, the soldiers were confused and frightened. In the dark-
ness and confusion, Abram’s men rushed down upon them like a land-
slide. Many of the soldiers died.
But some escaped and fled to the north. Abram and his men pursued
them for 150 miles, finally catching them in Damascus. The four kings
and army from the east were destroyed (verse 15).
Abram rescued Lot and his possessions, as well as the goods and
people taken from Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 16). If Abram had not
stepped in, Lot and the others would have become slaves in a foreign
land, never to be heard from again.
But Abram knew that it was God who really gave him his success.

Abram Meets Melchizedek

Upon returning with Lot, the people and their possessions, Abram was
greeted by the king of Sodom at the Valley of the Kings, east of
Jerusalem (Genesis 14:17). The king wanted to thank him. He also
wanted to ensure that he could get Abram to fight for him in the future.
So the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Don’t worry about giving me
back my possessions—keep them. I only want the people” (verse 21).
This offer would have made Abram even richer than he already
was. But Abram saw through the king’s scheme.
He said, “I have raised my hand to the Eternal, God the most High.
He is the Possessor of heaven and earth—everything belongs to Him.
Therefore, I will rely upon Him to reward me” (verse 22).
Earlier, Abram had met Melchizedek, the King of Salem. He gave
Abram and his fighting men bread and wine, which refreshed and
strengthened them. Melchizedek was the priest of God most High. He
was also the Word, the member of the God Family who spoke for God

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 In tithing, God
requires that we
pay Him only
one-tenth of
what we earn…
…while He allows us
to keep the rest.

the Father and carried out his

commands. One day, He would be born as a human being and be called
Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:1-10).
Melchizedek may have seemed like a flesh-and-blood man, but He
was really God, appearing as a man. He represented God’s way of life
to those who would listen.
He told Abram, “Blessed be Abram of God most High, who is the
possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most High, who
has delivered your enemies into your hands.”
Abram fully understood that neither he nor his men were responsi-
ble for defeating the four kings from the east. That honor went to God
alone. Abram knew that his success came from obeying and trusting in
God (Psalm 18:1-3, 28-50).
That is why Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe—a tenth part—of all
that he owned (Genesis 14:18-20).
God owns everything (Genesis 14:19, 22; Job 41:11; Nehemiah
9:6; Revelation 10:6). And no matter how hard one works, the money
people earn belongs to God. However, because He loves to share, God
gives us 90 percent of it. All He expects is that we pay Him ten per-
cent. If we do, God promises to shower us with more blessings than we
could imagine (Malachi 3:8-10).
As His priest, Melchizedek represented God to the people, just as
God’s true ministers represent Him today. That is why Abram paid
God’s tithe to the King of Salem.

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 Abram continued to say to the king of Sodom, “Because God owns
everything, I will take nothing from you. Everything belongs to our
Creator, and He is the one who will bless me, not you. Also, I do not
want you to be able to say that you made me rich because I accepted
anything from you. Except for what my men have already eaten, I will
not take anything from you. As for my allies—Aner, Eshol and
Mamre—let them take their portion” (Genesis 14:23-24).
The king of Sodom’s plan had failed and he was not happy. But he
knew better than to upset Abram.

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 CHAPTER NINE

ABRAM GETS A SON

T hough Abram had great courage, wisdom and wealth, he still made
mistakes. He was an ordinary human being who sometimes gave
in to the pulls and desires of his carnal nature. Like all righteous ser-
vants of God, Abram occasionally had doubts.
The Creator understood this and was mercifully patient with him.
Many years had passed since God had promised the land of Canaan
to Abram. One day, while fighting wrong thoughts that tempted him to
doubt God’s promise, Abram received a surprise visitor: God!
The Eternal spoke to him in a vision. To Abram, it appeared as
though God was literally right in front of him, but he wasn’t. Abram
bowed down on his knees and listened.
“Abram, do not be afraid. I am your shield; I will protect you from
anything that comes against you. I am also your great reward. Your
gold, silver and the rest of your riches are nothing compared to what I
will give you” (Genesis 15:1).
Abram knew that God was trying to encourage him, but his doubts
would not go away.
He reminded God, “You promised that I would have many descen-
dants who will inherit the Promised Land. Yet I am still childless, and
Sarai and I are growing too old to have children. I have no choice but
to make my servant, Eliezer of Damascus, my heir” (verses 2-3).
According to tradition then, if the head of a ruling family did not
have an heir to pass the family wealth and right to, a servant could be
chosen as an heir.
God said, “Abram, Eliezer shall not be your heir. I will give you an
heir from your own flesh and blood.”
Abram began to feel relieved. In the vision, he followed God out-
side the tent. The Creator told him to look up into the sky and count all
the stars, if that were possible for him to do.

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 “So shall be your descendants,” God promised. “So many, they will
be hard to number” (verses 4-5).
Abram felt complete relief. He believed God. And God considered
his belief—Abram’s faith—as righteousness (verse 6). (Righteousness
means keeping God’s commandments.) Because of his belief, Abram
is known today as the father of the faithful (Galatians 3:6-9).
Though Abram believed God, he naturally wanted to know how
and when he would inherit Canaan (Genesis 15:8).
After following God’s command to sacrifice some animals to Him,
Abram fell into a deep sleep. His dreams quickly turned into a night-
mare, filled with horror and darkness (verses 9-12). Waking up, he lis-
tened to God explain what the nightmare had meant.
“Your descendants will be strangers in a strange land, a land not
their own. They will serve the people there as slaves, and will suffer
pain and heartache for many years. But I will judge the people who
will harshly rule over your descendants. Your offspring will escape
from them and carry off great possessions. As for you, Abram, you
shall not live to see this. But do not worry, your descendants will return
to the Promised Land. Then they shall be My instrument of judgment
against the people of Canaan” (verses 13-16).
Then God made a special covenant, or agreement, with Abram. He
enlarged the gift of the Promised Land to extend from the River of
Egypt in the south, to the Euphrates River far in the north (verses 17-
21).

Sarai Imposes Her Will

Some time had passed and Sarai still did not have a child. She began
to doubt that God could fulfill His promise through her.
“After all,” she reasoned, “God did not say that Abram’s descen-
dants would be through me. Perhaps there is another way…”
She went to her husband and said, “God has kept me from having
children, so I want you to have children through my handmaid, Hagar.
Unlike me, she is still young and healthy and able to bear you many
children. I will provide you an heir through her.”
It was the custom for women who could not give birth, to have chil-
dren through their personal servants.
Sarai took charge and gave Hagar, an Egyptian, to be Abram’s wife.

67
 Hagar runs away
into the wilderness.

Sarai did not trust God to deliver His promise, and Abram did not stand
up to his wife’s demands.
Soon Hagar became pregnant—she was going to give birth to
Abram’s first child! Sarai should have been pleased; after all, she got
what she wanted. However, she did not carefully consider the trouble
that would result from not waiting on God.
Hagar, having married Abram and now carrying his child, began to
think herself equal to Sarai, instead of being a servant under her. She
began to despise Sarai and refused to obey her commands (Genesis
16:1-4).
Instead of taking responsibility for her mistake, Sarai blamed
Abram. “You are the reason why Hagar no longer respects me. May
God judge between you and me” (verse 5).
Again, Abram gave in to his wife’s demands. He said, “Hagar is
still your maid and is in your hand. Do to her as you wish.”
Like a secondary wife, Hagar had certain rights of protection from
Abram. But when he removed this protection, Sarai treated Hagar
harshly—so harsh that Hagar ran away (verse 6).

God Speaks to Hagar

Feeling sad and lonely, Hagar headed for Egypt. Along the way, she
drank from a well of water in the wilderness on the way to Shur. The

68
Messenger of the Eternal (the member of the God Family who would
later become Jesus Christ) appeared to her.
He reminded Hagar that she was still Sarai’s handmaid. “Return to
your mistress and do as she says.”
As she thought this over, the Messenger of the Eternal said, “I will
increase your descendants so much that they will not be able to be
numbered. The child you now carry is a son. You shall call him
Ishmael, which means ‘God hears,’ because the Eternal has heard your
sorrow. Ishmael shall be a wild man and will always be fighting or at
war with other peoples. No one will be able to control him. And he
shall dwell in the safety of all his brethren” (Genesis 16:7-12).
Hagar found comfort in these words. She called the Eternal “You-
Are-the-God-Who-Can-See.” She then called the well “Beer Lahai
Roi,” which means “well of the One who lives and sees me” (verses
13-14).
Hagar slowly came to understand what most people do not: God
sees all and desires to give mercy and help those will obey Him.
She walked back home to Abram and obeyed Sarai’s commands.
Some time later, she gave birth to Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old
(verses 15-16).

God Changes Abram and Sarai’s Names

Thirteen years after Ishmael was born, God appeared to Abram and
said, “I am El Shaddai—Almighty God! Walk before Me and be
blameless” (Genesis 17:1).
Abram quickly fell to his knees and listened.
God said, “I will make a covenant with you and will increase your
descendants. You shall no longer be called Abram. From now on, your
name is Abraham, which means ‘father of many nations,’ for I will
make through you many nations of people and kings. My covenant is
between Me and you and your descendants forever, and they shall
inherit the land of Canaan. It will belong to you forever” (verses 5-8).
Again, God’s words increased Abraham’s faith.
Then God said, “As for Sarai, you shall call her Sarah, which means
‘Princess.’ I will bless her, and she will be a mother of many nations.
Many kings and countries shall come from her” (verses 15-16).
Hearing this, Abraham fell on his face and laughed. He thought to

69
himself, “I will be 100 years old by the time Sarah gives birth! And she
is already 90 years old! How can God expect her to bear a child?”
(verse 17).
Remembering that he was in the presence of Almighty God,
Abraham said, “Lord, please consider my son Ishmael. He is already
born. He is healthy and available to be my heir—choose him” (verse
18).
But God said no. “Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name
him Isaac, which means ‘laughter,’ because you laughed at My prom-
ise.”
“But what about Ishmael?”
“I have already blessed Ishmael,” God said. “I will make him pros-
per and he will have many descendants. Twelve princes shall come
from him, and I will make him into a great nation. But as for My
covenant, it is with Isaac, not Ishmael. Sarah will bear Isaac at this set
time next year.”
Then God left Abraham (verses 19-22).

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 CHAPTER TEN

THE END OF SODOM

AND GOMORRAH

O ne hot day, as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent, three men
appeared. In reality, they were the Word (who would later become
Jesus Christ) and two angels. They only appeared to be men.
It was the custom to greet strangers who came to your home and to
give them refreshments. So Abraham rushed to give the three strangers
water to wash their feet, which, because they wore sandals, were
exposed to dirt and sand.
Abraham also instructed Sarah to quickly make cakes of bread
while he ordered a young servant to prepare a roasted calf. When the
food was ready, the visitors sat down and ate (Genesis 18:1-8).
Then they asked Abraham, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
He said, “Here in the tent.”
Hearing her name mentioned, Sarah came to the entrance of the tent
and listened.
The Word said to Abraham, “Next year I will return to you. By then,
Sarah shall bear you a son” (verses 9-10).
If Abraham had any doubts about who his visitors really were, he
now understood that he was in the presence of God.
Hearing that she was going to somehow give birth to a child, Sarah
laughed within herself.
She thought, “I am 90 years old and well past my childbearing
years. And now that I am old and gray I am expected to bear children?”
(verses 11-12).
God turned to Abraham and said, “Why did Sarah laugh and say
that she was too old to bear a son? Is anything too hard for the Eternal?
Mark My words, I will return to you at the appointed time and Sarah
will have a son.”
Abraham slowly turned to his wife.

71
 Sarah shook her head and said, “I did not laugh.” She denied it
because she was afraid. Like Abraham, she began to realize that she
was before God.
God replied, “No, Sarah, you did laugh” (verses 13-15).
Then Sarah realized her mistake.
Most people either do not understand or believe that God sees
everything. He knows our thoughts and desires. He even knows our
needs before we know them. He sees when we break His laws. And He
sees and hears us when we ask for forgiveness and honestly try to
change. God even knows the number of hairs you have on your head!
Nothing can be hidden from Him. God sees everything (Jeremiah
23:23-24).

Abraham Reasons With God

God (the Word) and the two angels rose and departed for the city of
Sodom. Abraham decided to walk with them and send them on their
way (Genesis 18:16).
As they walked together, God turned to Abraham and said, “Shall I
hide from you what I am about to do? I know you, Abraham. You are
my friend. I know that you keep My commandments, and that you
teach your entire household to do the same. Because you obey My
voice, I know that I can trust you. Therefore, I will tell you what I am
about to do” (verses 17-19).
Abraham felt honored to be considered God’s trusted friend. But he
was also deeply concerned. Something weighed heavily in God’s
mind; he knew that this was the reason God and His two angels were
disguised as men.
God said, “The outcry against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is
great. Their sins have grown so terrible, they have become as evil as
the last days before the Great Flood! Though I see everything and
nothing can be hidden from Me, I am sending My two angels to see the
sins of Sodom and Gomorrah in person. Then I will know whether or
not the outcry against them is justified” (verses 20-21).
At that, the two angels departed for Sodom, but God remained with
Abraham for a little while longer (verse 22).
Realizing that his nephew still lived in Sodom, Abraham began to
worry. “What will become of Lot if God decides to destroy Sodom?”

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 Turning to God, Abraham said, “Great Eternal One, would You also
destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Suppose there were 50
righteous God-fearing people who lived in Sodom—would You
destroy the city and not spare the lives of the 50 who obey You? Far be
it from You, the Judge of all the earth, to do such a thing.”
God replied, “If I find in Sodom 50 righteous people, I will spare
the city for their sakes.”
Abraham was relieved. He had taught Lot the laws of God from his
youth. He was confident that his nephew still kept them.
But then another thought crossed Abraham’s mind: “What if there
are less than 50 righteous in all of Sodom?”
He turned to God again and said, “I know that I am only dust com-
pared to You, O Lord, but please allow me to speak on this matter
again. Suppose there were only 45 righteous people in Sodom—would
you destroy the entire city and not spare the 45 who were righteous?”
God replied, “If I find only 45 righteous people in Sodom, I will not
destroy it.”
Then Abraham approached his Creator again, asking if there were
only 40 righteous in Sodom—then 30, then 20.
Finally, he asked God, “Suppose You found that there were only ten
righteous people living in Sodom? Would You still destroy the city and
not spare the ten who fear and obey You?”
God said, “I will not destroy Sodom if I find that ten righteous peo-
ple live in the city.”
And then God left as soon as He was finished speaking. Abraham
walked home, relieved that he was allowed to intervene for Lot’s sake
(verses 23-33).

Sodom—City of Sin

In the evening, the two angels arrived at Sodom. Thinking that they
were ordinary men, Lot greeted the angels at the city gate, where busi-
ness and civil matters were conducted (Genesis 19:1).
Noticing that the darkness of night was about to fall upon them, Lot
offered the visitors to spend the night at his home.
They said, “No, thank you. We will spend the night in the open
square” (verse 2).
Lot began to fear for them. He knew how wild and evil the men of

73
Sodom could be toward strangers—especially at night.
At his insistence, the angels came home with Lot. Then he and his
family made them a fine feast of roasted lamb and freshly baked
unleavened bread (verse 3).
Just before Lot’s household was about to go to bed, the men of
Sodom, both young and old, came to the house and surrounded it.
These men had heard rumors of two mysterious but handsome
strangers spending the night there.
The men banged on the door and called out to Lot, saying, “Where
are the strangers? Why are you hiding them from us? Bring them out
that we may treat them as we wish” (verses 4-5).
Driven by their carnal nature, these wicked men intended to mis-
treat the newcomers and do evil things to them.
Lot, wanting to protect his guests, stepped outside, shutting the
door behind him. He pleaded with the growing crowd not to harm or
do evil to his guests. Then he offered to bring out his two daughters in
their place (verses 6-8)!
Though he obeyed God’s laws, Lot did not fully use God’s wisdom.
Choosing to live closely with such wicked people affected Lot’s judg-
ment.
The Sodomites snarled at him. “You are a foreigner! You came to
live here with us, and now you keep acting as our judge! Now we will
deal worse with you than with the strangers!”
The crowd pressed so hard against Lot that they almost broke the
door down (verse 9).
The two angels reached out and pulled Lot into the house. Before
shutting the door, they struck the Sodomite men with blindness—yet
the crowd was so intent on doing evil to Lot and the strangers that they
struggled to find the door and break it down (verses 10-11)!

Escape from Sodom

The angels told Lot to gather all of his relatives living in the city. “For
we shall destroy this place. Sodom is so evil and the outcry against it is
so great, God has no choice but to destroy the city” (Genesis 19:12-13).
Lot raced out of his home and pleaded with his sons-in-law, who
were married to Lot’s other daughters.
“You must leave the city at once! God is going to destroy it!”

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 While Lot and his two daughters escape to Zoar,
Lot’s wife disobeys God and looks back at Sodom.

But his sons-in-law thought that Lot was only joking (verse 14).
Like those who would not listen to Noah’s warning of the Great Flood,
Lot’s sons-in-law refused to take God seriously. They would soon
regret their foolish mistake.
When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry up and leave
Sodom. But Lot did not listen. He wanted more time to warn his
friends and relatives of God’s coming punishment.
Because Abraham had spoken to Him about sparing the city for the
sake of the righteous who may be living in it, God was very patient and
merciful toward Lot. Instead of leaving him behind, the two angels
took hold of Lot, his wife and their two youngest daughters and
brought them out of the city (verses 15-16).
Once outside the walls of Sodom, the angels warned them, “Escape
for your life! As you flee, do not look behind you toward Sodom or
stay anywhere in the plain. Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of
the plain are about to be destroyed. Escape to the mountains, lest you
be destroyed, also!” (verse 17).

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 Lot had grown too fond of living among the wicked cities. This atti-
tude led him to tolerate—put up with—their sins. It also affected his
ability to make wise decisions. Being too close to sin always does this.
Though extremely grateful toward the angels for helping him
escape, Lot said, “The mountains are too far for me and my family to
escape. Allow us to go to this city.” He pointed to the small town of
Bela, a few miles away.
The angels agreed. They waited for Lot’s family to escape to Bela
(whose name was changed to Zoar, which means “little”). Then they
would unleash God’s awesome power and destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah (Genesis 14:2; 19:18-22).
Once the sun had fully risen, God rained flames of fire and burning
brimstone down upon the wicked cities. Ash and smoke filled the air
as fire spread wildly out of control. The people screamed and panicked
and ran in all directions. In the smoky darkness and confusion, many
people were trampled to death. Others were trapped in burning build-
ings or died from the poisonous smoke vapors. Thousands died as God
wiped Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the earth.
Just as Lot and his daughters entered Zoar, his wife began to regret
leaving the city she loved. Hating to give it up, she looked back toward
Sodom.
In an instant, Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt! The price for
rebelling against God is always high (Genesis 19:23-26).

The Day After

The next day, Abraham rose early and looked across the valley to see
what was left of the cities of the plain. He saw thick columns of smoke
swirl up into the sky from what used to be cities. At first he wondered
if Lot had been destroyed in Sodom. But when he later learned that the
little town of Zoar had escaped God’s wrath, Abraham realized that Lot
was there, safe and sound (Genesis 19:27-29).
Fearing the citizens of Zoar, who blamed him for Sodom and
Gomorrah’s destruction, Lot left town. He and his daughters fled to the
mountains and lived in a cave. Once there, Lot had much to think
about. Because he had grown used to sin and tolerated it, Lot had
almost lost his life (verse 30).

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 CHAPTER ELEVEN

ISAAC IS BORN

M onths later, God visited Sarah, just as He had said He would.

And she gave birth to a son—Isaac. Twenty-five years had
passed since God first called Abraham. At the age of 100 years old,
Abraham finally had an heir to God’s promise (Genesis 21:1-3, 5-7).
Everyone in their household was happy and excited for Isaac’s
birth—everyone, except Hagar and Ishmael.

Hagar and Ishmael Forced to Leave

One day Abraham and Sarah held a great feast in Isaac’s honor, who
had grown from a tiny baby to a little child (Genesis 21:8).
As everyone celebrated, Sarah overheard Ishmael say rude and
unkind things about Isaac. Fearing that Ishmael would someday
become so jealous that he would do Isaac harm, Sarah spoke with
Abraham.
“Hagar and Ishmael must leave,” she said. “Hagar’s son cannot be
your heir while Isaac lives. Send them away now, before something
horrible happens.”
Abraham did not want to do this. He had great affection for
Ishmael. He worried that Ishmael would not be safe if he was cast out
from their home.
But God reassured Abraham, saying, “Listen to Sarah and cast out
Hagar and the boy. I will bless your descendants through Isaac. But
do not worry about Ishmael. For your sake, I will make a great nation
from him” (verses 9-13).
Early next morning, Abraham gave Hagar and Ishmael food and
water and tearfully sent them on their way. Carrying enough supplies
to last until they would come to the next wellspring, the mother and
son wandered through the Wilderness of Beersheba.

77
 By the time the supplies were used up, they realized that they were
lost. With the rugged desert wilderness being hot and dusty, Hagar
knew that if they didn’t find water soon, she and her son would die!
Tired and weak, she placed Ishmael under a shrub to keep cool
under its shade. Then she walked a small distance and sat down and
cried (verses 14-16).
With his mouth dry and parched, Ishmael could barely speak. He
thought about the crude things he had said about his little brother.
Feeling sorry, Ishmael prayed to the one true God that Abraham had
taught him about.
God heard his prayer.
The Messenger of the Eternal called out to Hagar and said, “Fear
not. God has heard your son’s prayer. Arise and lift Ishmael up, for
God will make him a great nation” (verses 17-18).
Hagar looked up and saw a spring of cool, sparkling water appear
from the desert floor. She and her son ran to it and drank until they
could drink no more.
From that moment, God ensured that Ishmael would survive.
Growing up in the desert wilderness, Ishmael became an archer, skilled
at hunting wild animals for food, clothing and protection. He spent so
much time living in the wild away from people that he was like a wild
man.
His mother brought him a wife from Egypt (verses 19-21). They
had many children. Eventually, their descendants became a great
nation. Today, they are known as Arabs.

God Tests Abraham

Many years passed since Isaac was born. During that time, Abraham
had taught him the importance of keeping God’s spiritual laws.
One day, when Isaac was a very young man, God decided to test
Abraham. He wanted to know if Abraham learned the valuable lesson
of always trusting God and not relying on himself.
So He said to him, “Abraham, take Isaac, your only son, whom you
love, and go to the land of Moriah. Once there, you will offer him to
Me as a burnt sacrifice” (Genesis 22:1-2).
Abraham was stunned! For years, God had told him that He would
produce a great people through Isaac. Yet God had just commanded

78
Abraham to sacrifice Isaac—kill him!
“How could this be?” he wondered. Though Satan the devil tried to
tempt him, Abraham did not allow doubts to keep him from obeying
God. He was determined to obey God no matter what.
Early next morning, Abraham saddled his donkey and then chopped
some wood to use for the burnt offering. Along with Isaac and two ser-
vants, he then traveled to the place where God wanted the sacrifice to
be offered. Three days later, they arrived (verses 3-4).
Abraham turned to his young servants and said, “Stay here with the
donkey. Isaac and I will go up to the place of sacrifice and worship
God. We will be back” (verse 5).
Though God had commanded him to take Isaac’s life, Abraham
knew that the Eternal would keep His promise.
As they walked, Isaac asked his father, “We have the wood, the
knife and everything we need for the burnt offering. But where is the
lamb that is to be offered?”
Abraham looked his son in the eye and said, “God will provide the
lamb” (verses 6-8).
When they finally arrived at the place God had directed them,
Abraham built an altar and set the wood in place. Then, to Isaac’s sur-
prise, his father bound him with rope and placed him on the altar, on
top of the wood (verse 9).
Isaac’s eyes were wide with fear!
Calmly, Abraham said to him, “Put your trust in God.”
Then he stood over his son, stretched out his hand, ready to take the
knife and kill his only son, the heir to God’s promise (verse 10).
Just then, the Messenger of the
Eternal called out to Abraham from
heaven: “Abraham, Abraham!”
Abraham said, “Here I am.”
“Do not slay your
son or do anything to
him. Because you are
willing to sacrifice
your only son for

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Me, I now know that you fear God and will obey Me no matter what”
(verses 11-12).
Abraham had passed the test!
God provided a ram, which was caught in a thicket by its horns, to
be sacrificed. This led Abraham to call the place of worship “The-
Eternal-Will-Provide” (verses 13-14).
Again, God promised Abraham that He would bless him with many
descendants, as numerous as the stars in heaven or sand on a seashore.
He said that they would be a mighty people.
“Because you have obeyed My voice, all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed through your seed.”
Then Abraham, Isaac and the young servants returned home to
Beersheba (verses 15-18).

Sarah Dies

Some time later, after 127 years of living on the earth, Sarah died.
Abraham bought a large field, which had a cave, and buried his wife
in the cave (Genesis 23:1-4, 17-20).

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 CHAPTER TWELVE

ISAAC FINDS A WIFE

A few years had passed since Sarah died, and Isaac was still with-
out a wife. Abraham began to worry that his son might be tempt-
ed to marry one of the local women of the land. He knew that Isaac
must not marry foreigners, else he would be tempted to worship their
pagan false gods and follow their evil practices and traditions.
So Abraham turned to his chief servant and made him promise to
find Isaac a proper wife.
“Do not pick a wife from among the Canaanites—they do not wor-
ship God or keep His laws,” he said. “Instead, I charge you with find-
ing a wife among my own people. Go back to the country where God
called me out from and go to my family. Only from them should you
pick a wife for Isaac.”
In those days, it was the custom that parents choose whom their
sons and daughters would marry. Abraham desired that Isaac marry a
woman who obeyed God, kept His laws, and would teach their future
children to do the same. Abraham was certain that his distant family
members still worshipped the one true God.
The servant replied, “What if the woman I choose is not willing to
follow me back to this land? Should I take Isaac with me to your home-
land?”
“No, Isaac must stay here. God will direct you. If the woman is not
willing to follow you, then you shall be released from this oath.”
So the servant took ten camels and began his long journey to the
land of Mesopotamia (Genesis 24:1-10).

Rebekah Gives Water to a Stranger

After hundreds of miles of travelling, the servant came to the city of

Nahor. As evening drew near, he made the camels kneel down at a well

81
 Rebekah enters the well
to get water for the chief
servant and his camels.

outside of the city. He waited for the local women to come to the well
and draw out water.
Quietly, the servant prayed to God, “Eternal God of Abraham, my
master, please give me success in finding the right wife for Isaac.
When the women come out to draw water from the well, help me know
which one I should choose from. When I say to a young woman,
‘Please give me a drink from your pitcher,’ and she says, ‘Here, drink,
and I will give your camels a drink, also’—please let her be the one
that You have chosen for Isaac.”
It was the custom of the time for women to provide water for
strangers, but not to their animals. Any woman who offered to give
water to both parties was unusually kind. She was willing to do more
than she was expected to do.

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 Before the servant had finished his prayer, a young, beautiful
woman named Rebekah appeared.
The servant asked her for a drink.
She said, “Here, my lord,” and poured water into his hands. Then
she said, “I will draw water for your camels, too. They seem to be quite
thirsty.”
Silently, the servant wondered to himself, “Is this the one?”
The man gave her a valuable gold ring and gold bracelets and asked
for her name and who her parents were.
She answered, “I am Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel and grand-
daughter of Nahor.”
Suddenly, the servant knew that God had answered his prayer.
Nahor was Abraham’s brother. This made Rebekah Abraham’s grand-
niece and Isaac’s distant cousin!
Grateful that God had heard his prayer, the servant explained to
Rebekah who he was and about his mission. The young woman ran
home and told everyone there what had happened.
When Laban, Rebekah’s brother, saw the new jewelry she was
given and heard the story, he ran out to invite the servant to stay the
night with them. They set food before him and encouraged the servant
to eat, but he refused.
“First I must tell you about my mission.”
After hearing the details of his story, Laban and his father Bethuel
said, “This thing comes from God. We now know that the Eternal
wants Rebekah to marry Isaac. You may take her with you.”
Rebekah did not say anything. She fully trusted that God had cho-
sen the right husband for her.
Upon hearing the family’s answer, the servant bowed down to his
knees and worshipped God, thanking Him through prayer. Then
the servant unloaded the goods that his ten camels carried, and gave
Rebekah silver and gold jewelry, and expensive clothing. He also gave
precious gifts to Laban and to Milcah—Laban and Rebekah’s mother.
Next morning, the servant was ready to take Rebekah to the
Promised Land. But the family began to feel sad because she was
about to move to a distant country. They asked the servant if Rebekah
could stay with her family at least ten more days.
The man said no. “God has caused me to find Rebekah quickly. We
must not stay in His way.”

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 Rebekah puts
on a veil as her
future husband
approaches
the caravan.

The family
turned to Rebekah
and asked her if she was
willing to leave.
She simply replied, “Yes, I
will go.”
And so the servant led Rebekah, her maids and the rest of the car-
avan on their long journey back to Canaan (Genesis 24:10-61).

Love at First Sight

One day, when Isaac was sitting in a field, deep in thought, he noticed
something appear over the horizon: a caravan of camels and people
(Genesis 24:62-63).
When he stood up, he recognized that Abraham’s chief servant was
leading the caravan. And then he noticed a beautiful young woman
among them.
Meanwhile, Rebekah noticed a man walking toward them from the
distance. She asked the servant, “Who is that man coming toward us?”

84
 He grinned, “That is my master; the one you have been chosen to
marry.”
As Isaac drew near, Rebekah could see that he was a handsome
man with a kind face.
Before he could get closer, she covered her face with a veil (for that
was the custom then; women who were about to marry covered their
faces from their future husbands until the day they married).
When the servant told him everything that had happened, Isaac
knew that God had chosen Rebekah to be his wife. And Isaac was more
than willing to be her husband. They were married, and loved each
other for the rest of their lives (verses 64-67).

The Death of a Great Servant

Many years after Sarah’s death, Abraham married a woman named

Keturah and had several sons (Genesis 25:1-4). Then, at the age of
175, Abraham died. He lived a full and happy life because he had
learned to put God first (verses 7-8).
Some day soon, when God sets up His kingdom on the earth,
Abraham will be raised back to life. Because he devoted himself to
building God’s holy, righteous character, Abraham will be changed
into spirit. He will never again feel pain or grow old or die. He will be
a member of the God Family. He will teach others to reject human
nature and keep God’s spiritual laws.
This is God’s Plan for everyone—including you!

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 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JACOB AND ESAU

A fter twenty years of blissful marriage, Isaac and Rebekah were

still childless. In ancient times, this was considered shameful.
Without an heir to inherit the family wealth, the family name would die
out and its possessions would be passed on to strangers.
Isaac turned to God, pleading with him to give Rebekah a child.
God answered his prayers. Rebekah was soon with child (Genesis
25:20-21).
But as the months passed and her time of giving birth drew near,
she felt great discomfort.
Praying to God for relief, Rebekah said, “It is as though a great war
wages within my womb.”
In a way, she was correct. God told her, “Two nations are within
your womb. Two peoples shall be separated from your body. One shall
be stronger than the other, and the firstborn will serve the younger”
(verses 22-23).
Rebekah realized that she was carrying twins! And from her twin
sons would come two nations of people who would constantly be at
odds with each other.
On the big day, Rebekah gave birth to a hairy, reddish son. He was
named Esau. Immediately after he was born, out came his younger
brother Jacob, holding on tightly to Esau’s heel (verses 24-26).

Esau Sells His Birthright

Esau grew up to become a skilled hunter. He roamed the land, search-

ing for wild game. Jacob, on the other hand, became a shepherd. He
stayed near home and tended flocks of sheep.
As many parents still do, Isaac and Rebekah made a big mistake:
each favored one son over the other. Instead of showing both sons the

86
 same amount of
love and attention,
Isaac favored
Esau, because he
loved to eat the
wild game his son
brought to him.
And Rebekah
favored Jacob,
because he stayed
close to home and
was gentler than
his older brother
(Genesis 25:27-
29).
Isaac and Rebekah’s mistake caused Esau and Jacob to compete
against each other. This created harsh feelings between them.
One day, while Jacob was cooking a lamb stew, Esau stumbled in
from the wilderness and fell to the ground.
Smelling the hearty stew bubbling before him in a pot, Esau said,
“Brother, please give me some of your stew. I’m so tired, I feel like I’m
about to die.” Esau had spent the entire day hunting for game. Now he
was hungry and weak. He would do anything to fill his belly with
Jacob’s stew.
When Jacob considered his brother’s request, a wrong thought
popped into his mind: “Esau is the firstborn. He will inherit the fami-
ly wealth and its blessings. Yet God has told our mother that I will rule
over my brother and receive the rights of the firstborn. How can this
possibly happen?…Unless God has just handed me my chance.”
Giving in to his human nature rather than trusting in God to work
things out, Jacob took matters into his own hands.
He told Esau, “You may have my stew—but first you must sell me
your birthright!”
Esau did not consider what he was about to so easily give up.
Failing to rely on his Creator to provide food for him, Esau relied upon
himself.
“I’m about to die,” he said. “Go ahead, take the birthright! What
good is it to me now?”

87
 “Swear to me, then.”
Esau swore an oath to Jacob and sold his birthright for a bowl of
hot stew. Esau’s actions showed God that he despised the birthright
and did not appreciate the great and wonderful blessings that were tied
to it (verses 29-34).
Years later, Esau made even more mistakes, such as marrying two
local women—foreigners who worshipped idols and did not fear or
obey the God of Abraham (verses 34-35). Esau’s foolishness caused
his parents to grieve. Though they had raised him to follow God’s
ways, Esau continued to decide for himself right from wrong, good
from evil.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

As the years went by, Isaac became very old and nearly blind. Afraid
that he would soon die, he decided that it was time to bless Esau with
the birthright blessing. Isaac was unaware that Esau had already sold it
to Jacob.
He called out to his firstborn son and said, “I am old and my death
may be near. Before I die, I will bless you.”
Noticing that Jacob was not around, Esau thought he could break his
oath and steal the birthright blessing from his brother.
Isaac said, “Before I bless you, take your bow and arrows and hunt
a deer for me. I want to enjoy some wild game before I die.”
So Esau left to hunt game in the wilderness (Genesis 27:1-5).
Meanwhile, Rebekah had been secretly listening in on their conver-
sation. Because she favored Jacob over Esau, Rebekah came up with a
plan. She found her youngest son and told him about the situation.
“Listen to me, Jacob. While your brother is away, go to your flock
and pick two choice goats.”
“What will you do with them?” he asked.
“I will make a tasty stew, and I will make it so that your father shall
not be able to tell the difference between goat and wild game. After he
is finished eating, your father will bless you. Just pretend that you are
Esau and all will be well.”
Jacob said, “But Esau is hairy and I am smooth-skinned. What if
father decides to feel my skin? He will say that I’m a deceiver and will
curse me!”

88
 “Let your curse be on me. Now listen to me and do as I say. You
will be blessed.”
Jacob obeyed his mother and gave her two goat kids. After cooking
them, she clothed Jacob in Esau’s clothing and then put the skins of the
goats on Jacob’s hands and neck.
When he was ready, Jacob brought the food and some bread to
Isaac (verses 5-17).
Too blind to see who had just entered his tent, Isaac said, “Who are
you, my son?”
Jacob lied and said, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you
have asked. Please eat so that you may bless me.”
Isaac was not to be so easily fooled. He said, “How is it that you
have found wild game so quickly?”
Beads of sweat appeared on Jacob’s brow. One false move and his
deceit would be discovered.
Quickly, he told another lie: “The Eternal your God brought it to
me.” Like all lies do, Jacob’s lies were beginning to grow and pile up.
Life is so much easier when people just tell the truth.
Still, Isaac was not convinced. He wanted more proof.
He said, “Come near me. I want to feel you and see whether you are
truly my son Esau.”
Cautiously, Jacob drew close so that his father could touch him. But
all that Isaac could feel were hairy goatskins, which felt like Esau’s
hair.
“Your voice is like Jacob, but your hands are like Esau. Are you
really Esau?”
Again, Jacob lied. “Yes, I am.”
Isaac asked him to bring the food near and then he ate. When he
was finished, Isaac said, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
Jacob trembled as his father kissed him and smelled his clothing.
But Isaac was now convinced that this was truly Esau (verses 18-27).
He gave this blessing: “May God give you and your descendants
rich, fertile farmlands and plenty of fresh water. May He also make
you rich in grains, fruits and vegetables. Let the nations bow down to
you and serve you. May your brothers and their descendants bow
down to you and may you rule over them. Anyone who curses you
shall be cursed. And anyone who blesses you shall be blessed” (vers-
es 27-29).

89
 Jacob’s Deceit is Uncovered

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, Esau came in from the
hunt. After he cooked the food and brought it before his father, Esau
asked to be blessed (Genesis 27:30-31).
Isaac was puzzled. “Who are you?”
“Esau, your firstborn son.”
Isaac trembled from shock. “Who? If you are Esau, then who
brought me the food I just ate? I gave your blessing to that man—and
he shall be blessed.”
Hearing this, Esau screamed and cried. “Father, what about me?
Bless me also!” he wept.
Both men realized that Jacob was the one who posed as Esau.
Isaac said, “Son, I am sorry but your brother deceived me. He has
taken away your blessing.”
“I should not be surprised,” Esau said. “He is called Jacob for good
reason.” Jacob meant “deceitful” or “supplanter.”
Then Esau said, “First my brother took away my birthright, and
now my blessing. Have you no blessing left for me, father?”
Sadly, Isaac had only one blessing left to give. Jacob had already
taken the best.
Isaac said, “You shall live far from rich soil and well-watered farm-
lands. You and your descendants will fight and make war to get the
things you desire. And you shall serve your brother. But some day, you
will break free from his rule.”
Like a spoiled child, Esau did not appreciate his blessing. He hated
Jacob with all his heart. He longed for the day Isaac would die.
“Then I will kill my brother Jacob,” he said, when Isaac was not lis-
tening (verses 32-41).

90
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JACOB AND RACHEL

O ne of the servants overheard Esau’s desire for revenge, and told

Rebekah. She warned Jacob and came up with a plan for him to
stay with her brother Laban, who lived far away in Haran.
Jacob argued, “But I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”
But Rebekah, fearing for his life, convinced Jacob to leave. Now all
she had to do was convince Isaac of her plan.
“I don’t want Jacob to marry foreign women the way Esau did. If
he marries one of these idol-worshipping local girls, what good will
my life be?” she said to Isaac.
She then explained that Jacob should find a wife among her broth-
er’s household. “The same way Abraham found a wife for you years
ago,” she reminded him.
Reluctantly, Isaac agreed. So he sent Jacob off to Laban’s house-
hold, far away in the land of Mesopotamia.
Esau took notice of how Jacob obeyed their parents by searching
for a God-fearing wife. After he admitted to himself that his idol-wor-
shipping wives did not please his parents, Esau went to his uncle
Ishmael and married his daughter Mahalath.

Staircase to Heaven

During his journey, Jacob came to a certain place and stayed the night
there. Not having a soft pillow to sleep on, he used a large flat stone.
Though it was hard, it was still comfortable. Jacob fell fast asleep and
began to have a strange dream.
He dreamt that a great ladder or staircase extended from the earth,
all the way up into heaven. He saw angels climbing up and down the
staircase.
Standing above it, God said to Jacob, “I am the Ever-living God of

91
Abraham and your father Isaac. The land
on which you now rest I will give to you
and your descendants. Counting the num-
ber of your offspring shall be like count-
ing the dust of the earth. And you shall
spread in all directions. Through your
descendants, all families of the earth
shall be blessed.”
God had just enlarged the size of
the Promised Land to include the
whole earth!
In the dream, He promised to
protect and guide Jacob no matter
where he traveled, and to eventu-
ally bring him back home safely.
When he woke up, Jacob feared God. “The Eternal is in this awe-
some place, and I was not aware of it,” he said. “This place is the house
of God and the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:10-17).
Early the next morning, he took the stone he had used as a pillow
and set it up as a pillar. Then he poured oil on it and called the place
Bethel, which means “House of God” (verses 18-19).
Afterward, Jacob vowed that if God kept His promise to protect
him and provide for his needs and someday bring him back home,
“then the Eternal shall be my God. And all that He gives me I will tithe
to Him” (verses 20-22).

Rachel and the Well

Jacob continued his journey to Haran and eventually came to the land
of Mesopotamia. When he came to a well in a field, he noticed that
three flocks of sheep were lying near it, waiting to be given water. A
large stone covered the mouth of the well, preventing the sheep from
getting their drink.
Jacob asked the herdsmen of the flock where they came from.
“We are from Haran,” they answered.
Jacob felt relief. He now knew that his long journey was nearly fin-
ished and that Haran was nearby.
He asked the men, “Do you happen to know Laban, son of Nahor?”

92
 “Why yes, we know him.”
“Is he alive and well?” Jacob asked them this because he had never
met his uncle Laban and it had been many years since Rebekah had
seen him.
They said, “Yes, he is well.”
Then one of the herdsmen pointed across the field to a young
woman who was leading her sheep. “As a matter of fact,” he said,
“Laban’s daughter Rachel is coming to the well with his sheep.”
Even from a distance, Jacob could see that Rachel was quite beau-
tiful (Genesis 29:1-6). He wanted to speak to her alone, so he tried to
convince the herdsmen to hurry up and remove the stone from the well
and water their flocks. The herdsmen refused (verses 7-8).
Meanwhile, Rachel came to the well with her flock. Realizing that
she was family to him, and taken in by her natural beauty, Jacob rolled
the stone away and watered her sheep. Then, overcome with joy, he
gently greeted Rachel with a kiss and told her who he was.
“I am Jacob, son of Rebekah, your father’s sister.”
Rachel was so happy and excited that a family member had come
such a long distance to visit her, she ran home to tell her father (vers-
es 9-12).
“Father, father!” she shouted. “Your sister’s son is here!”
Laban could barely believe his ears at the good news. So many
years had passed since he had seen his sister—and now her son was
here!
“Where is he? Bring my nephew inside so I can greet him!”
Rachel was speechless. She suddenly realized that, in her excite-
ment, she had left Jacob standing at the well.
When she explained this to her father, Laban ran out to meet Jacob.
He gave his nephew a giant bear hug and a kiss, and then brought him
to his home.
Laban told Jacob, “We are family. Stay with us. My home is your
home.”

Jacob Hears Wedding Bells

Jacob stayed with Laban, his sons, and his daughters (Rachel and
Leah), helping them take care of their flocks and other livestock. By
the time one month had passed, Laban realized that Jacob was faithful,

93
hardworking and attentive to his sheep. In fact, Jacob was becoming a
more valuable worker than Laban’s entire household of servants.
Not wanting his nephew to leave him, Laban said to Jacob, “You
are family to me. I can’t allow you to serve me for nothing. Name your
wages. How much should I pay you?”
But Jacob did not want money. He wanted something that was far
more precious to him: “I will work hard for you seven years. In return,
you will give me your daughter Rachel to be my wife.”
Hearing this, Laban was pleased. Not only would he have a diligent
servant, but a son-in-law, too. He quickly agreed to Jacob’s price (vers-
es 15-20).
During the next seven years, Jacob worked hard for Laban. As he
watered, fed and protected his uncle’s sheep, the flocks grew quite
large. This is because, just as it is today, when a man fears and obeys
God, his hard work brings success. God was blessing Jacob’s diligent
labor, and Laban was receiving benefits from it.
Laban should have followed his nephew’s example and put God
first in his life. But instead, he worshipped idols.
Fearing that he would lose Jacob when the seven years were fin-
ished, Laban came up with a plan to keep his nephew working for him
even longer.
Because Jacob was deeply in love with Rachel, the seven years
seemed like only a few days to him. But when the time had come,
Jacob demanded that he be allowed to marry her right away.
So Laban and his household of family and servants made a great
wedding feast, which lasted a full week. During the wedding ceremo-
ny, the bride’s face was covered with a long, expensive veil. It was not
until after they were married that Jacob saw the face behind the veil.
It was Leah!
Jacob was shocked—then angry. He rushed to Laban, his new
father-in-law, and demanded that he explain himself.
“Why did you deceive me? I served you seven years for Rachel, not
for Leah! Why have you held Rachel from me?” (verses 21-25).
Laban knew that Jacob would be angry, so he already had a crafty
answer to give him.
“It is the custom of our land that the firstborn gets married first—
and Leah is my firstborn daughter. I’m sorry, my son, but I’m bound
by tradition.”

94
 “Why didn’t you explain this to me before the wedding?” said
Jacob.
Laban did not bother to answer. Pretending to feel pity for Jacob’s
situation, he said, “How about this—keep Leah for your wife and I will
also give you Rachel as your second wife.”
“Really?” Jacob said, surprised.
“By all means, my son…Of course, I cannot give Rachel away for
free. All that I ask is that you serve me another seven years. But don’t
worry about having to wait seven more years to marry her. You can
marry Rachel right now and work off the years that you owe me later.
All I ask is that you wait a week and spend some time with Leah”
(verses 26-27).
Just as Jacob had deceived Esau and Isaac, Laban had deceived
him. God was teaching Jacob a bitter lesson: Lying never pays. Like
many people today, God knew that Jacob had to learn this through
hard, painful experience.
Jacob gave in to Laban’s scheme, and married Rachel the following
week. Jacob may have had to work another seven years, adding to his
uncle’s wealth, but he was happy to finally be married to the woman
he loved (verses 28-30).

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 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE DECEIVER IS DECEIVED

J acob’s 14 years of serving Laban had ended. Yet he had very few
possessions to show for it. His hard work had gone toward increas-
ing his father-in-law’s riches, not his own.
He went to Laban and said that he wanted to take his family back
to Canaan (Genesis 30:25-26).
Laban was afraid of losing such a profitable worker. He knew that
his increase in wealth was due to having a God-fearing man manage
his affairs. Quickly, he said to Jacob, “What can I do to make you want
to stay? Name your own wages and I’ll pay it.”
“No need to pay me anything. Just allow me to pick from your flock
all the speckled and spotted sheep and goats, as well as all the brown
lambs. They will be my wages” (verses 27-32).
Laban quickly agreed. The next day, Jacob found out why.
Laban had his sons and herdsmen take most of the speckled, spot-
ted and brown animals Jacob had wanted. Then they took them to a
place that was three days away (verses 34-36). Now, instead of leav-
ing for Canaan with a good-sized flock, Jacob would have to wait for
the animals to be born.
During the next six years that Jacob tended to Laban’s sheep, a
mysterious thing happened: Jacob’s flocks increased while Laban’s
flocks became smaller. God was with Jacob and made him prosper.
Jacob also increased in camels, donkeys and servants (verse 43).
Laban was not pleased. He knew that Jacob would soon leave him.

Jacob Flees

One day, Jacob overheard Laban’s son complain that Jacob had taken
away their father’s wealth. Hearing this, Jacob thought about how
Laban no longer acted friendly toward him. He realized that Laban and

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his sons would grow to be angrier at him if he did not soon leave.
“But if Laban sees me leave, he might use his men to force us to
stay. I’ll be in trouble if I stay and I’ll be in trouble if I try to leave.”
Then God spoke to Jacob: “Return to Canaan and bring your fami-
ly with you. I will protect and guide you” (Genesis 31:1-3).
With that, Jacob set into motion a plan of escape. He waited until
Laban and his men were several miles away shearing his sheep. Then
Jacob, his wives, children and servants fled on camels. They took all
their livestock and possessions with them.
Jacob also made sure to tell everyone in his caravan not to take any-
thing that belonged to Laban. He did not want to give his father-in-law
any excuse to come after them (verses 17-18, 20).

Laban Rides in Hot Pursuit

Three days passed before Laban heard the news that Jacob had left
him. Angry, he ordered his sons and servants to saddle their camels,
and they raced into the wilderness in hot pursuit.
After seven days of long, hard riding through rugged countryside,
they came within sight of Jacob’s campsite, which was in the moun-
tains of Gilead. Laban decided that his men, who were tired and weak,
should get a good night’s rest before swooping down on Jacob’s camp.
“He has too many possessions and women and children to be able
to run away from us,” he told them.
That night, God spoke to Laban in a dream. In it, He warned him
not to harm Jacob—else the Eternal would deal with him. Though
Laban did not worship God, the dream made him fear God—at least
for a little while (Genesis 31:22-25).
The next morning, Laban and his men entered Jacob’s camp.
“Why did you sneak away like a thief in the night?” he said to
Jacob. “And why did you steal away my daughters like captives taken
in war? If you had only told me that you were leaving, I would have
sent you off with a great feast. Because of you, I didn’t even get a
chance to kiss my daughters and grandchildren goodbye. Why have
you treated me so harshly when I have treated you like a son?”
Trying not to let his fear show, Jacob said, “I left without telling
you because I was afraid you would try to take your daughters away
from me.”

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 “Why would you think such a thing? I have the power to harm you,
but the God of your father warned me not to.”
“It would be wise to obey God’s warning,” said Jacob.
Laban said, “I agree. But tell me, if it was so urgent for you to jour-
ney back to Canaan, why did you feel the need to take my gods with
you?” He was talking about his household idols, or carved images.
Jacob’s fear turned to boiling anger. “I do not steal idols!”
Laban took a step back. He realized he had said too much.
Jacob said, “If you think that I have your so-called ‘gods,’ then
search my possessions. In fact, search the tents of everyone in my car-
avan—and make it quick!”
Laban searched Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s, and then the tents of
Bilah and Zilpah. He did not find his idols.
Then he entered Rachel’s tent. As he searched, he noticed that
Rachel was sitting on a saddlebag. He wanted to search through them,
but she said, “Excuse me for not getting up, father. I am feeling weak
and sickly right now.”
Her father decided to leave the saddlebags be (verses 26-35).
When he left the tent, Rachel let out a soft sigh. Laban’s household
idols were hidden in her saddlebags! Jacob did not know she had
stolen them (verses 19, 32).
Jacob’s face was burning red from anger. “Well, where are these so-
called ‘gods’ you claim I have stolen from you?”
Laban was speechless.
Jacob said, “I have worked for you for 20 long years. And my hard
work has fattened your tents with riches. Yet you have deceived me
over and over again, and have changed my wages ten times! Why have
you treated me so unfairly?”
Embarrassed, Laban knew that he was right. He could feel the
stares of his sons and servants as they considered Jacob’s words.
Wanting to appear to be a fair man, Laban asked to make a
covenant, or agreement, of peace with Jacob.
Jacob agreed. He set up a stone as a pillar. The other men piled
some other stones to be used as a monument, or reminder, of their
covenant. Then they sat down and feasted together (verses 43-48).
Early the next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and grandchil-
dren goodbye, and headed back to Haran (verse 55).
Jacob was finally free.

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 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JOURNEY TO CANAAN

D ay by day, Jacob and his caravan were getting closer to Canaan.

But first they had to travel through the land of Seir and the coun-
tryside of Edom. Jacob worried that this could mean trouble for them.
He explained to his men, “To get to Canaan, we must first cross my
brother Esau’s territory. And Esau is the reason why I had left Canaan
in the first place.”
He sent some messengers to find his brother and tell him that Jacob
was about to enter his land with many possessions.
“And tell Esau that I hope to find favor in his sight” (Genesis 32:3-
5). He wanted to know whether or not his brother still wanted to take
his life.
The messengers soon returned to Jacob with alarming news: “We
found your brother and gave him your message. Now he is riding out
to meet you with 400 men!”
Jacob began to worry. “Esau doesn’t need 400 men with him just to
greet me.”
So he divided his caravan into two groups. He reasoned that if one
of the groups were attacked, the other could escape (verses 6-8).
Then, wisely, Jacob prayed to God for protection. He told his
Creator that he knew he did not deserve His great mercy and protec-
tion. He also reminded God of His promise to bring him safely back
home to Canaan, and to bless and increase his descendants (verses 9-
12).
That night, Jacob took 550 of his best livestock and told his ser-
vants to take them ahead of him. “When you see my brother, tell him
that these animals are my gift to him. Also say that I am riding in
behind them.”
Jacob thought that this would smooth any bad feelings Esau may
still have had toward him (verses 13-20).

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 Jacob Wrestles
With God

Jacob ordered the two

groups of his caravan
to move on ahead of
him. That night, he
camped alone so that
he could pray to God.
He knew that the only
way he could have
success in meeting
with Esau was if God
stepped in (Genesis
32:21).
Then a strange
thing happened. A
mysterious man sud-
denly appeared and
grabbed Jacob. The
two men wrestled
each other throughout
the long night. When
the sun started com-
ing up, the attacker
wanted Jacob to let go
of him. Jacob refused.
He knew that the
“man” was really the
Messenger of the
Jacob wrestles with Eternal, also known
a mysterious “man.” as the Word.
The Messenger of
the Eternal touched Jacob’s hip, causing him to feel great pain. Still,
Jacob would not let Him go. He knew that God was testing his charac-
ter.
When he was younger, Jacob had followed the ways of lies and

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deceiving people. But during the last 20 years, he had slowly learned to
reject his carnal nature and put his trust in God. He finally understood
that the Eternal would solve his problems.
When God sets up His kingdom on the earth, all people will learn to
put their trust in Him.
The Messenger of the Eternal said, “Let Me go. The morning sun is
coming up.” But Jacob still refused.
The Messenger of the Eternal had the power to easily break free
from his grip—like an elephant breaking free from an ant! He wanted to
give Jacob a chance to prove himself. He also wanted to teach him that
following God and rejecting carnal nature and Satan’s attitudes is not
easy. It is long, hard work that takes a lifetime to master.
Jacob said to Him, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
So the Messenger of the Eternal blessed Jacob, changing his name to
Israel, which means “he struggles with God” and “prince with God.”
After the wrestling match ended, Jacob called the place Peniel,
which means “Face of God.” He knew that he had just wrestled with
God face-to-face.
Then, still feeling pain in his hip, Jacob limped away (verses 24-31).

The Brothers Meet

Jacob returned to the caravan group that had his wives and children.
Suddenly, he saw dust clouds appear across the horizon.
Riders were coming!
Jacob divided his wives and children into groups. He put the hand-
maids and their sons up front. Then Leah and her children in the mid-
dle. Then Rachel and Joseph went last.
“If any trouble happens, Rachel and Joseph will see the least of it,”
he reasoned. He loved Rachel more than any woman on the face of the
earth.
Then Jacob left his family and went out to meet the approaching rid-
ers. He knew that it was Esau and his 400 men (Genesis 33:1-3). As he
neared them, Jacob bowed to the ground several times. He wanted Esau
to know that he was coming as a servant and a friend, not as a deceiver.
Esau said nothing. He climbed down from his camel and ran over to
Jacob…and hugged and kissed him! Together again, the two brothers
wept (verse 4). God had answered Jacob’s prayers for success.

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 Esau pointed to the women and children behind him. “Who are these
with you?”
“My wives and children. I will call them to you.”
The women and children walked toward Esau and bowed before
him. Esau was very impressed by their respect for him (verses 5-7).
He then asked Jacob about the 550 pieces of livestock he had passed
on his way to see him.
Jacob explained, “They are my gift to you.”
Esau thanked him but said that he already had enough possessions.
Jacob urged him to take the livestock. Finally, Esau gave in and accept-
ed the gift.
Esau wanted to escort his brother to his home in Seir, but Jacob said,
“Your men ride faster than my family and livestock. Go on ahead, and
my caravan will follow at a slower pace” (verses 8-14).

Entering Canaan

After they had said their goodbyes and parted peacefully, Jacob headed
north toward Succoth. There he built himself a house and made booths,
or shelters, for his livestock.
Then he traveled to Shechem, a city in Canaan, and bought some
land. He also built an altar. He called it El Elohe Israel—“God, the God
of Israel” (Genesis 33:16-20).
Jacob’s children were becoming young adults now. Unfortunately,
most of them got involved in worldly pursuits when they should have
kept their minds on the things of God.
For example, Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, got mixed up with the wrong
crowd—idol-worshippers who followed pagan traditions. This led to
Dinah getting into some terrible trouble. Enraged, her brothers Simeon
and Levi did some horrible things to avenge their sister.
When one puts up with sin, it always leads to more sin, as well as
heartache, pain—and even death!

Rachel Dies

Obeying God, Jacob and his caravan went to Bethel. There he built
an altar to God, and the Eternal renewed His covenant with Jacob
(Genesis 35:1-5).

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 Leaving Bethel, they headed for Ephrath. But Rachel died while
giving birth to another son. He was named Benjamin.
Rachel was buried in what is today called Bethlehem (verses 16-
19). It would be the same place where Jesus Christ would be born
almost 2,000 years later (Matthew 2:6).

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 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

JOSEPH, THE FAVORITE SON

F inally back in Canaan after being away for so many years, Jacob
reunited with his father. Isaac was now very old and gray, and liv-
ing in Mamre, where Abraham and Sarah used to live.
Some time later, Isaac died. He had lived a long, successful life—
180 years’ worth. Jacob and his brother Esau then buried Isaac
(Genesis 35:27-29).

Joseph Dreams

Jacob moved his caravan to the valley of Hebron and lived there for
quite some time. Because he was growing old and weak, he relied on
his grown-up sons to tend to his large numbers of sheep and other live-
stock.
One day his younger son Joseph, who was 17 at the time, helped his
brothers Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher feed the flock. The older broth-
ers got into some mischief, and Joseph told Jacob (Genesis 37:2).
The four brothers came to dislike Joseph. “Who does he think he
is—our judge?”
Jacob’s affection toward Joseph made matters worse. Following the
same mistake Isaac and Rebekah had made, Jacob showed favor to
Joseph. He did not show the same amount of care and concern for his
other sons. This caused all of the older brothers to hate Joseph.
Unaware of their growing hatred, Jacob made an expensive coat of
many colors and gave it to Joseph. In other families of that time, the
father only would have done such a thing for the firstborn son. So
when Joseph’s brothers saw his new gift, they knew that it was a sign
of how much more their father loved him.
They hated Joseph even more. Whenever they would speak to him,
their words were always harsh (verses 3-4).

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 Some time later, Joseph started having some strange dreams. They
seemed to show that he would grow up to be an important person. He
would even rule over his father and brothers.
Unfortunately, Joseph was not wise enough to keep the dreams to
himself. He told them to his brothers, which inspired them to plot
against him (verses 5-11).

Into the Pit

One day, Jacob sent Joseph off to Shechem to bring back a report on
his brothers. They were supposed to be feeding the flocks there.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, he quickly saw that his brothers
and the flocks were gone. He asked a man if he had seen them.
The man said, “They left some time ago. I overheard them say that
they were going to Dothan.” Dothan was about 15 miles north of
Shechem. So Joseph journeyed there and saw his brothers and the
flocks in the distance (Genesis 37:12-17).
His brothers were not happy to see him approaching. While Joseph
was still off in the distance, they plotted to get rid of him.
Led by the same carnal attitude that led Cain to slay Abel, they said,
“Look, here comes the mighty dreamer. What if we took his life and
threw his body into this pit over here? I wonder if he ever dreamed that
we would do that to him.”
“Why not take his life?” one brother said. “We can say that some
wild beast killed him—no one will know the truth but us.”
Foolishly, they did not consider that God was listening to their
wicked plan.
Reuben, the oldest of them, defended Joseph. He said, “Let’s not
kill him.”
“Why?”
He pointed to the pit and said, “Let’s throw him down in there and
pretend to leave him there. It will teach Joseph not to act as though he
will rule over us some day.”
Reuben said this because he did not want Joseph to die. He knew
that their father loved him deeply. Having shamed his father some
years earlier, Reuben did not want Jacob to feel any more heartache
(verses 18-22).
When Joseph came to them, his brothers surrounded him and

105
stripped off his coat of many colors. “You won’t be needing this any-
more!” they said
Then they threw him down into the deep pit (verses 23-24).

Sold Into Slavery

Deep from within the pit, Joseph tried to jump and climb its walls. He
was desperate to escape.
One of his brothers said, “Tell us, little brother, did your dreams tell
you about your new home?”
They laughed and teased some more, especially when Joseph
screamed, “Let me out! Let me out of here right now!”
“Or what? You’ll dream us to death?”
The brothers laughed and walked away from the pit. When they sat
down for a meal, one brother said, “What about Joseph? Should we
feed him or give him some water?”
“For what?” said another. “Let him feast on his dreams.”
When Reuben went off to run an errand, the other brothers thought
again about killing Joseph. Guided by his carnal nature, Judah stood up
and pointed to a company of Midianites, who were coming near them.
They were known for selling many things on their constant travels—
spices, oils and other goods. And sometimes they sold slaves.
Judah said, “Why kill our brother and have his blood on our hands?
Where is the profit in that? Let’s sell him to the Midianites instead.
They pay well for slaves.”
“Yes, that’s it!” a brother said. “These slave traders never stay in
one place for too long. If we sell Joseph to them, they’ll take him far
away. Our brother will never meddle in our affairs again.”

Joseph looks back to his

brothers as he is led away
into slavery.

106
 So they all agreed.
When Joseph was pulled from the pit, he thought that his troubles
were over. But they were only just beginning.
His brothers waved the Midianites over to them and sold Joseph to
them for twenty shekels (about eight ounces) of silver.
Shocked, Joseph could scarcely believe that his brothers had
betrayed him, as his new masters led him away (Genesis 37:25-28).

Jacob Grieves

When Reuben finally returned and saw that Joseph was no longer in
the pit, he began to panic. “What have you done with Joseph?”
“Don’t worry, Reuben. The dreamer is still alive…though not
well,” they laughed and grinned.
Then they explained what they had done with Joseph.
Reuben’s heart pounded faster and faster. He said, “What are we
going to tell father? He’ll be heartbroken.”
The other brothers were no longer smiling. They knew that they had
to come up with a plan in order to cover the truth of their betrayal.
So they took Joseph’s coat of many colors, killed a small goat, and
smeared its blood on the coat. Then they ripped the coat in several
places.
When they got home, they brought the coat to Jacob and said, “We
have some bad news. Joseph is missing. When we went looking for
him, we found this. Is this the coat you gave him, father?”
Jacob stared at it and softly said, “Yes, it is.” The brothers led him
to believe that a wild animal had killed Joseph and taken his body
away, leaving only his coat.
As was the custom in ancient times, Jacob tore his clothes and wore
sackcloth, which was coarse and uncomfortable. This was a sign to all
of his deep mourning. Though his family tried their best to comfort
him, Jacob mourned and wept for many days (Genesis 37:29-35).

A Slave in Egypt

The Midianite traders brought Joseph all the way down into Egypt and
sold him to Potiphar. He was an Egyptian officer and captain of the
guard.

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 Just as He had done with Jacob, God protected and guided Joseph,
making him successful in everything that he did. Potiphar noticed this.
He understood that his new servant was different from his other slaves.
Over time, when Joseph proved his worth through his hard work and
giving attitude, Potiphar gave him higher duties.
He said to Joseph, “From now on, you will be in charge of my
entire household. All of the business affairs that are in my house are
now under your control. No one will be over you, except for me.”
Joseph was stunned. Though he was still a slave, he gained more
responsibility than did almost all men who were free. He worked even
harder for his master, making sure that everything in his household ran
smoothly. All the other servants obeyed Joseph’s every command.
It did not take long for Potiphar to learn that he had made the right
choice. Joseph prospered at everything he did. He proved to Potiphar
that he could be trusted with anything. In time, Potiphar only con-
cerned himself with eating; he let Joseph take care of the bigger affairs
of the household (Genesis 39:1-6).

Cast Into Prison

Joseph had grown to become a handsome young man. And Potiphar’s

wife began to take notice. Her carnal nature led her to desire Joseph in
the same way she desired her husband. This was wrong. When God
made Adam and Eve, He intended that husbands and wives desire and
only be intimate with each other—and no one else.
Whenever her husband was away from home, Potiphar’s wife
would try to be intimate with Joseph, but he always refused. Joseph
feared and obeyed God.
One day, when Potiphar’s wife caught Joseph by his cloak and tried
to tempt him, he shouted, “No!” As he ran from her, she held on to his
cloak and it pulled away from him.
The wife was tired of Joseph turning her down. So she took the
cloak and told others in the household that Joseph had tried to mistreat
her.
“And when I started to scream, he ran away and left his cloak!” she
lied.
As soon as her husband came home, the wife told him her lie, sob-
bing and weeping.

108
 Potiphar was angry. He even thought about putting Joseph to death!
But God put it into his mind to send Joseph to prison (Genesis 39:6-
20).

Prison Dreams

God was still with Joseph. Even in prison, the Eternal caused him to
prosper and succeed in everything he did. The keeper of the prison saw
that Joseph was not an ordinary prisoner. Since Joseph was trustwor-
thy and very capable in his duties, the keeper of the prison made him
second in command of the entire prison. He did not have to worry
about anything that was under Joseph’s power. The keeper of the
prison knew that Joseph would take care of it.
And God prospered Joseph even more (Genesis 39:21-23).
One day, the prison received two new prisoners—the chief butler
and chief baker for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh had been
angry with them because he had heard of a plot to poison his food and
drink. The chief baker was in charge of Pharaoh’s food. The chief but-
ler was in charge of serving Pharaoh his drinks. The duties of both offi-
cers demanded that the men be trustworthy. But Pharaoh, not knowing
which one he could trust, threw both men into prison.
One day, Joseph asked them why they seemed to be sadder than
usual.
“Last night, we each had a strange dream. We want to know their
meanings, but there is no one here who can tell us.”
Just as today, many people think that their dreams have hidden mes-
sages in them. But most dreams do not.
Wanting to comfort them, Joseph said, “Tell me your dreams. If
they do have hidden messages in them, I won’t be able to tell you what
they are—but my God can.”
The butler and baker agreed (Genesis 40:1-8).
The butler said to Joseph, “In my dream, I stood before a vine with
three branches. Each branch budded and blossomed and produced
clusters of ripe grapes. I then took the grapes and pressed them into
Pharaoh’s cup until it was filled with fresh wine. Then I placed the cup
into Pharaoh’s hand.”
Joseph thought about the butler’s dream until God revealed its real
meaning.

109
 Joseph said, “The three branches are three days. In three days,
Pharaoh will release you from prison and place you back in his palace
as his butler.”
The butler smiled at the news.
Joseph then said, “When you are released, do not forget me. Tell my
cause to Pharaoh. I am from the land of the Hebrews. I don’t belong
here. I’ve done nothing to deserve being in prison.”
The butler promised Joseph that he would not forget him.
Encouraged, the baker told Joseph what he had dreamed about: “In
my dream, there were three baskets of bread on my head. In the top
baskets were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds kept
eating them. Tell me, Joseph, what does this dream mean?”
Joseph thought about the baker’s dream. When God revealed its
true meaning, he felt sorry for the man.
He said, “The three baskets are also three days. Within three days,
Pharaoh will release you from prison…”
“Yes, yes, go on,” said the baker.
“You will be released from prison and Pharaoh will hang you on a
tree. Birds will come to eat the flesh off your body.”
Three days later, Pharaoh celebrated his birthday (a pagan custom
that God hates) by having a great feast for all his servants. Then, as
was his custom, he decided to release some prisoners. The chief butler
was let out of prison and returned to his duties. But the chief baker was
let out of prison only to be hanged.
Because everything had happened according to what he had said,
Joseph thought the chief butler would speak to Pharaoh for him. He
thought he would soon be released from prison and on his way home.
That was not to be. The chief butler forgot about Joseph (verses 9-
23).

Revealing Pharaoh’s Dreams

Two years later, Pharaoh had two strange dreams. They disturbed him
so much that he wanted to know what they meant. So he ordered his
court magicians and seers to tell him. But they could not reveal their
true meaning. Since the dreams came from God, only He could reveal
what they meant.
The chief butler remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him.

110
“He revealed what would happen to me and the baker. Here I am, alive
and well; the baker was hanged.”
Pharaoh called for his guards and told them to bring Joseph out
from prison.
Before bringing him into the king’s royal presence, the guards
made Joseph shave his beard and put on clean and expensive clothing.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had two strange dreams. None of
my magicians or seers can tell me what they mean. Can you?”
“No,” said Joseph. “I do not have such power. But the Eternal God
of the universe can. In the past, He has used me to speak for Him.”
Impressed with his answer, Pharaoh told Joseph what he had
dreamed: “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when
seven cows suddenly came up out of the river. They were fat and well-
fed. They left the river and started eating in the meadow. Then seven
other cows came out of the Nile. These were sickly, ugly, and starving
for food. These cows ate up the seven fat cows. Yet after they had eaten
them, these cows still looked sickly and starved. Then I awoke. In my
second dream, I saw seven heads of grain grow fat on one stalk. Then
seven heads of thin, dried up grain suddenly sprang up and ate the fat
ones. Tell me, Joseph, what do my dreams mean?”
Joseph did not rely upon himself. He waited for God to give him
the answers.
Once He did, Joseph said, “The two dreams share the same mean-
ing. God wants you to know what He is about to do. The seven fat
cows and seven fat heads of grain are seven years of rich, fertile
growth. Your farms will produce more grains, vegetables and fruits
than you will know what to do with. But the seven thin cows and seven
thin heads of grain are seven years of severe famine. Farmlands
throughout Egypt, Canaan and other lands will almost dry up. Fresh
water will be hard to find. The seven bad years will be so horrible that
everyone will forget the fatness of the seven good years.”
Pharaoh was amazed at the deep understanding and wisdom behind
God’s answer. And he respected Joseph.
He asked him, “Tell me, what should I do?”
“Select a wise and discerning man and set him over Egypt. During
the seven good years, he will appoint officers to collect one-fifth—one
out of five—of the grain, vegetables and fruit that Egypt will produce.
That food will be stored away to be used during the seven bad years of

111
the famine that will surely come. Do this, and Egypt will not perish.”
Pharaoh was very impressed by Joseph’s wisdom. And he also
knew who the right person to carry out Joseph’s plan would be.

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 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE BROTHERS REUNITE

P haraoh stood up from his throne and approached Joseph. He said,

“I have found the man to be my second-in-command over Egypt.
He is you!”
He took off his signet ring and placed it onto Joseph’s finger, and
then had him clothed in expensive fine linen. He also placed a gold
chain around Joseph’s neck. All of these things were signs of Joseph’s
great office and power.
“From now on,” said Pharaoh, “you shall rule over my house. All
my people will be ruled by you and shall obey your every command.
In all Egypt, only I will be over you.”
Then Pharaoh had Joseph ride in a great chariot so that he could be
seen by all. Pharaoh’s men told the people to bow before Joseph.
As Pharaoh’s second-in-command, Joseph had the power to sign
important documents, and make decisions that would affect the entire
kingdom of Egypt.
Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, as well as a beautiful
Egyptian wife—Asenath. She was the daughter of an important priest
in the land.
After 13 long years of being sold into slavery, then wrongly thrown
into prison, Joseph was finally free. He knew that God was with him
(Genesis 41:39-46).

Grains Stored Away

During the seven years of plenty, Joseph gathered one-fifth of the food
that had grown throughout Egypt and stored it in large storehouses in
all the cities. He gathered so much grain that his men could no longer
keep count of it (Genesis 41:47-49). The storehouses were almost
bulging with food.

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 Meanwhile, Joseph’s wife gave him two sons—Manasseh and
Ephraim (verses 50-52).
When the seven years of plenty had ended, so began the seven years
of famine. People throughout all the lands barely had enough food to
survive; many others died.
Back in Egypt, now that farms were not producing as many crops as
before, the people cried out for Pharaoh to give them food. But Pharaoh
told them, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he commands you.”
As the famine spread throughout the world, Joseph opened the store-
houses and sold grain to the Egyptians. When peoples of other lands
heard about Egypt’s large food supplies, many traveled there to buy
grain.
This caused Egypt to become more powerful and famous (verses 53-
57). Pharaoh was pleased.

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

Back in Canaan, Jacob and his family were suffering from the famine.
Many of the sheep had died. The food supplies were low. Jacob knew
that if they didn’t find food soon, everything he owned would be gone.
So he told his sons to go to Egypt and bring back some food. “Buy
as much food as you can carry.”
Except for Benjamin, all of the sons headed for Egypt. Jacob did
not allow Benjamin to go because he was afraid of losing him, the way
he had lost Joseph.
When the brothers arrived at Egypt, they stood in a long line of
many other people. They, too, had come from distant lands to buy
grain (Genesis 42:1-5).
Now Joseph, who was governor of Egypt, personally oversaw the
selling of grain to the foreigners. When his brothers, who were next in
line, were brought before him and bowed, Joseph could hardly believe
his eyes. At first he wanted to rush over to them and greet them with a
kiss. It had been so long since he had seen another family member. But
then Joseph started to boil with anger for what his brothers had done
to him.
But he decided to trust God and not seek revenge. “Perhaps it’s time
my brothers learned a lesson,” he thought.
Because Joseph wore the clothing and jewelry of high Egyptian

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authority, his brothers did not recognize him. They thought he was just
another Egyptian official.
Joseph decided to speak to his brothers through a servant who knew
the Hebrew language. He wanted his brothers to think that he only
spoke Egyptian.
Harshly, Joseph said, “Where do you come from?”
They said, “From the land of Canaan, lord.”
“Then you must be spies! You’ve come to search for our weakness,
haven’t you?”
The brothers trembled at Joseph’s words. They saw the eyes of the
Egyptian soldiers who stood on guard with weapons in their hands.
“No, my lord! We are your humble servants. We have only come to
buy grain, nothing more.”
Joseph said, “I don’t believe you.”
They said, “What can we do to convince you, my lord? We are just
twelve brothers sent by our aging father to bring back some grain.”
“There are only ten of you here. If you are 12, where are the other
two brothers?” Joseph asked.
They said, “The youngest is with our father, and the other brother
is no longer alive.”
“Liars! You are spies!” Then Joseph ordered his men to throw his
brothers into prison.
Three days later, Joseph visited them. “You can have your grain,”
he said, “but one of you must stay here in prison while the rest of you
go back to Canaan and bring me your youngest brother. Only then will
I set your other brother free.”
The brothers talked among themselves. “This trouble is happening
to us because of what we did to Joseph.”
Reuben said, “I told you not to harm him, but none of you would
listen. Now we’re going to have to pay for his blood.”
Unknown to them, Joseph understood what they said. Overcome
with emotion, he turned his back to them and cried. Though they had
greatly wronged him, Joseph still loved his brothers (verses 6-24).

Brothers Return to Canaan

Joseph released his brothers, but kept Simeon in prison. Then he

ordered that his brothers’ sacks be filled with grain and given extra

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supplies for the journey home. He also arranged to have their money
hidden in the grain sacks.
On the way home, one of the brothers opened a sack and found
money hidden in it. He told the others, “The money I used to buy grain
is in this sack.”
All of them began to worry and fear. “This is the hand of God. He
wants to get us in trouble with that Egyptian governor for what we did
to Joseph” (Genesis 42:25-28).
One brother said, “Maybe that Egyptian governor is trying to make
it look as though we are spies and thieves!”
When they reached home, they told Jacob everything that had hap-
pened in Egypt. Then they said, “Simeon will be stuck in prison if we
don’t bring Benjamin back to Egypt with us.”
As Jacob thought this over, the brothers opened all of the grain
sacks and found a surprise: each sack contained the money that was
used to buy the grain!
The brothers trembled in fear. They knew that they could not go
back to Egypt without being accused of stealing. The Egyptians could
throw them back into prison—or even take their lives!
Jacob said to them, “Joseph is gone, and so is Simeon. And now
you want to take Benjamin, my youngest son, into Egypt so that I can
lose him, too?”
Reuben still wanted to go to Egypt and rescue Simeon. He stepped
forward and said, “You may take the lives of my two sons if I fail to
bring Benjamin back to you. And I will bring him back to you.”
But Jacob refused (verses 29-38).

Return to Egypt

Time passed, and Jacob and his family had used up the grain they had
bought. To make matters worse, the land was still suffering from
famine. People were still dying from lack of food. Jacob knew that his
family had no other choice but to go back to Egypt and buy more grain.
When he told his sons this, Judah said, “But we can’t go back to
Egypt unless Benjamin is with us. That Egyptian governor will be
there—he will expect us to bring Benjamin.”
But Jacob still refused.
Judah said, “Send the boy with me. I will be responsible for him. If

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I fail to bring him back, you can set the blame on me forever.”
Reluctantly, Jacob gave in.
Then he told the brothers to take with them gifts of fruit, nuts,
honey, spices and oils, as well as twice the amount of money that they
had found in their grain sacks earlier. “Perhaps these will smooth any
harsh feelings the Egyptian governor may have toward you,” he said
(Genesis 43:1-13).
So the brothers took the gifts, their brother Benjamin, the money
and their donkeys, and headed for Egypt. When they arrived, they
lined up with the other foreigners in order to buy grain.
Upon seeing that his brothers had returned with Benjamin, Joseph
was happy and pleased. But he kept them from seeing his true feelings.
Joseph ordered his chief servant to take the brothers to his home
and prepare a great feast for them.
When the brothers arrived at Joseph’s home, they were afraid.
“He’s trying to make us feel comfortable so that he can wrongly arrest
us for stealing the money. Then he’ll make slaves out of us.”
Driven by fear, they tried to explain to Joseph’s chief servant about
the money. “We don’t know how it got into our grain sacks, but we
brought it with us. Plus we brought extra money with us.”
The chief servant said, “Do not worry. Your God and the God of
your father put the money in your sacks. I have the money you bought
the grains with the first time you came to our land.”
Then the chief servant brought out their brother Simeon to them.
The brothers were happy and excited to see him. “How have they
treated you? Did you get enough food to eat? Did they beat you?”
Before Simeon could answer, the chief servant led them into the
main dining hall of Joseph’s home. He had them sit down, gave them
water, and then washed their feet. He also had their donkeys fed.
When Joseph came home, he greeted the men. In turn, they bowed
down before him and trembled, and then gave him the gifts. When he
asked them about their father, the brothers answered that Jacob was
alive, though growing old and gray.
Joseph turned his back to them and smiled. He knew that he would
be reunited with his father very soon.
When Joseph turned to face his brothers again, he saw young
Benjamin with them.
“Is this the younger brother you spoke to me about?” he asked

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them.
They said that he was.
Joseph was filled with so many emotions that he had to leave the
room. He went into his chambers and thanked God for protecting his
family all these years, especially Benjamin. He also thanked God for
this opportunity to be reunited with them.
Then he washed his face, and came back into the dining hall. They
all sat down to eat. Joseph sat before a large setting that was separate
from his brothers. This was because it was a custom for Egyptians not
to eat with Hebrew people. Joseph did not yet want his brothers to
know who he really was. He was not done teaching them their lesson.
As the brothers ate and drank before Joseph, they noticed that
Benjamin was served five times as much food. “What does this
mean?” they whispered (verses 15-34).

Joseph’s Cup

Joseph had his chief servant fill his brothers’ sacks with food. “As
much as they can carry,” he said.
Joseph also told the servant to place each man’s money in the sack,
and to put his special silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.
Early the next morning, the brothers asked Joseph’s permission to
leave. “We must tend to our aging father. He will be sick with worry if
we delay any longer.”
So Joseph gave them his permission, and they left.
When they had left the city with their donkeys and sacks of grain,
all the brothers sighed with relief (Genesis 44:1-4).
“That was a close one! I thought we’d all end up in prison,” said
one brother.
“You still may be right,” said another. He pointed to dust clouds
that were off in the distance behind them. The dust clouds were getting
closer.
“Chariots!”

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 CHAPTER NINETEEN

ISRAEL DWELLS IN EGYPT

W hen the brothers saw Egyptian chariots racing toward them, they
knew the end was near. Outnumbered and having nowhere to
run, the brothers prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob more
than they ever had before.
The Egyptian chariots and soldiers surrounded the brothers and
drew out their weapons. Then Joseph’s chief servant stepped forward
and pointed his fingers at the brothers.
“Why have you repaid my master’s good treatment toward you
with evil?”
They asked, “What do you mean?”
“Do not act innocent. You have stolen my master’s special silver
cup!”
The brothers protested: “We don’t know what you’re talking about.
Didn’t we travel all the way from Canaan to return the money that was
in our bags? If we are thieves, then why would we bother to do such a
thing? And how could we ever think to steal silver or gold from the
governor’s house? Search our belongings and see whether or not we
have this silver cup.”
The chief servant said, “I intend to.”
“And if you find it among any of us, let that man die. The rest of us
will become the governor’s slaves.” The brothers were very sure of
themselves.
“No,” said the chief servant. “I will not take away the guilty man’s
life. I will only take away his freedom. The rest of you need not suffer
for the evildoing of the guilty one.”
The brothers agreed. Then each one, starting from the oldest to the
youngest, let down his sack and opened it. Each brother was amazed
to find the money they had used to buy grain.
“What? How did this get in here?” they asked. They did not know

119
 Benjamin is found to have
Joseph’s special silver cup.

that Joseph had his chief servant put the money into their sacks.
The brothers were embarrassed. But when Benjamin opened his
sack, their embarrassment turned into something else: horror!
Benjamin had dug his hand into the sack and pulled out Joseph’s sil-
ver cup.
The older brothers moaned and tore their clothes. They knew that
Benjamin would be arrested and taken to prison. And their father Jacob
would never see him again (Genesis 44:4-13).

Joseph Reveals Himself

The chief servants and soldiers took the brothers back to Joseph’s
home. When they came before Joseph, they fell down to the ground.
Joseph said to the brothers, “How dare you bow before me as
though you respect me. Did you really think that you could steal my
special silver cup and get away with it? Don’t you know that I have the
power to see things through my magic arts?”
Of course, Joseph did not really practice magic. No servant of God
does. He only said this because the brothers knew that pagan Egyptians
practiced magic and other evil things. And Joseph still wanted his
brothers to think that he was an Egyptian.
One of the brothers—Judah—spoke up: “What can we say, my lord?

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How can we clear ourselves? We cannot explain how the money or cup
fell into our possession. The Eternal God knows that we are guilty of
past sins, so my brothers and I are ready to become your slaves.”
“Only the guilty man—the one who had my cup—should become
my slave,” Joseph said. “The rest of you are free to leave. Go home to
your father in peace.”
Judah had tears streaming down his cheeks. He said, “We cannot go
back home without Benjamin. Our father’s love and affection is bound
up in the boy. If we return without Benjamin, he will surely die from
heartache. He has already lost one son he deeply loved. Let me be your
slave in place of Benjamin. I would rather be a slave in Egypt than let
my father suffer again.”
When he heard Judah’s plea, Joseph could no longer contain him-
self. He shouted to his servants, “Leave this room at once!”
And when he was alone in the room with his brothers, Joseph wept
aloud. Many outside the room could hear him cry.
Then Joseph turned to his brothers and said, “I am Joseph!”
His brothers were so shocked that they did not know what to say.
Joseph said, “Come near me,” and they did.
“I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into slavery.” Then he
told them what had happened to him during the long years he had been
in Egypt. He also told them that God had set him up to be lord of
Pharaoh’s house, and to be a ruler throughout all of Egypt.
“Now hurry and go to our father. Tell him that I’m alive and ruling
in Egypt. Tell him that he and our families can live in the land of
Goshen. Bring your children and your children’s children. Hurry now
and bring your flocks and herds and all of your livestock. There are
still five more years of famine left. Come now, lest you lose all your
possessions in the famine.”
Then Joseph hugged and kissed Benjamin and all his brothers.
Everyone wept (Genesis 44:14-34; 45:1-15).

Land of Goshen

When Pharaoh heard that Joseph had reunited with his brothers, he and
his servants were pleased. He said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to go
to Canaan and bring back their father, their families and their posses-
sions. I will give them the best land in Egypt” (Genesis 45:16-20).

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 When the brothers came home and told their father the good news,
Jacob could hardly believe it.
“Joseph? He’s alive?”
“Alive and well, and governor of all of Egypt!” they said.
After they told him everything Joseph had said, Jacob said, “Let’s
go then. Joseph is alive and I want to see him before I die” (verses 25-
28).
So Jacob, his sons and everyone who lived with them traveled to
Egypt. Some time later, they came to the land of Goshen.
Riding in his chariot, Joseph raced to greet his father. When they
saw each other, Joseph ran to Jacob, hugged him tightly and greeted
him with a kiss. Both men wept.
The newly arrived families, with Pharaoh’s permission, made their
home in Goshen, which was perfect for raising their sheep and other
livestock. Goshen had plenty of fresh pastures for the animals to graze.

The Famine Grows Worse

The famine became worse throughout Egypt and Canaan, and people
were running out of money to pay for grain.
Joseph gathered all the money he had earned through selling grain
and brought it to Pharaoh. The Egyptian king was impressed with his
fortune.
When the people no longer had money to pay for grain, they pan-
icked. But Joseph said, “I will take your horses, flocks, cattle and don-
keys for payment instead.”
The people were happy to trade their livestock for grain. Joseph
was able to sell them food for another year.
But by the next year, everyone had sold all of their animals for
grain. People began to starve again.
Then Joseph said that he would give them grain if they sold their
land to Pharaoh. The people agreed.
Then Joseph gave them seed and told the people to plant crops for
themselves. “One-fifth shall go to Pharaoh. The rest will be yours. No
longer will you need to buy grain.”
The people thanked Joseph, saying, “You have saved our lives!”
And so Pharaoh grew rich in silver, gold, livestock and land, and
Egypt became a mighty and powerful nation (Genesis 47:13-25).

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 The Blessings of Israel

Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. He saw his children and possessions
greatly prosper and increase in the land of Goshen.
When he was 147 years old and near death, Jacob asked Joseph not
to bury him in Egypt. “Bury me with my fathers, Abraham and Isaac.
Promise me that you will.”
“I promise, father” (Genesis 49:27-31).
Some time later, when Jacob again felt sickly and near death, he
called for Joseph, who brought with him his two sons—Manasseh and
Ephraim.
Lying in his bed, Jacob told Joseph about the promise God had
made to him years ago in Luz, now called Bethel.
“God said that He would increase my descendants and make many
nations from them. He also said that He would give us the Promised
Land to possess forever.”
Jacob explained that he wanted Manasseh and Ephraim to be part
of God’s blessings, along with his other sons. So Jacob adopted the
two boys as his own sons. He now considered them his first and sec-
ond born sons, instead of Reuben and Simeon.
The boys kneeled before Jacob. He reached out to lay his hands on
their heads in order to bless them. Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim
and his left hand on Manasseh.
Since Jacob was going blind, Joseph thought that his father was
about to make a big mistake.
“Manasseh is the firstborn; he should be blessed with Jacob’s right
hand and receive the blessings of the firstborn,” he thought. So he
removed Jacob’s left hand from Manasseh’s head.
“The firstborn son should be blessed with your right hand,” Joseph
said.
Jacob said, “But not in this case. God has decided that the younger
one, Ephraim, should be blessed with my right hand. Don’t worry—
Manasseh will become a great nation, even the greatest nation the
world will ever see. But Ephraim will become a great commonwealth,
or group, of nations. His empire will stretch around the entire earth,
and the sun will not set on it.”
With his right hand on Ephraim and his left hand on Manasseh,

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Jacob asked God to bless their descendants with great power and
increase their numbers. And he asked that they be called Israel
(Genesis 48:1-20).
Thousands of years later, the descendants of Ephraim and
Manasseh did become great and powerful nations. From Ephraim
sprang the British empire, including Britain, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and other English-speaking nations. From Manasseh sprang
the most powerful single nation the world has ever seen—the United
States of America.
Today, most people do not know these historical facts, which God
has carefully hidden and only recently revealed.

The Death of Jacob

Before he died, Jacob told his sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin—about
future events that would happen to their descendants. And then he
blessed them (Genesis 49:1-28).
After Jacob died, Joseph had Egyptian physicians preserve his
body. When the Egyptians had mourned for 70 days, Joseph and his
brothers, and all of Pharaoh’s servants, as well as the high officials of
Egypt, gathered to travel to Canaan. Egyptian soldiers and chariots
went with them.
When they arrived, Joseph buried his father in the same cave
Abraham and Isaac were buried in. Joseph had kept his promise
(Genesis 50:1-14).
When they all came back to Egypt, Joseph’s brothers were afraid
that Joseph might seek revenge on them. “Now that father is gone,
maybe Joseph will try to pay us back for selling him into slavery.”
Joseph told them that they had no need to worry. He did not want
revenge. Joseph knew that God had allowed him to become a slave
because it was a part of His Master Plan (verses 15-21). Sometimes
God allows even His most obedient servants to suffer, but He always
makes things work out well in the end.
Joseph lived in Egypt for many years. He died at age 110 years old,
and lived to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Before he died, he made his children vow to carry his body out of
Egypt and bury it in the Promised Land (verses 22-26).

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 The children and descendants of Jacob (Israel) stayed in Egypt and
grew in great numbers.
God waited for the day He would bring them out of Egypt.

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